15: Should You Submit to Your Spouse?

The idea of submission within our relationships is associated with many loaded meanings. Many think of a master and slave. Others may think it has to do with some weird sex. And for others, it may conjure up some ancient religious patriarchal laws between husband and wife.

Accordingly, it’s very difficult to divorce the word “submission” from ideas such as being forced to do something, or that when we submit we are saying our partner is superior or that they have authority over us. It definitely is a difficult word to use in our modern-day 21st century relationship lexicon.

However, I’m going to challenge that belief.

In my opinion, submission does not imply that the object of our submission is superior to us. Nor does it mean that they have control over us or even that we are being forced to do something against our will. It does not have to imply coercion.

My purpose here today is to dispel the myth, the connotation that “submission” is a dirty word. It’s not. It’s a statement of trust and recognition of superiority in some aspects of life that you grant another. And that it is a privilege for you to have such a person in your life – such an expert that you trust – that you can submit to.

Should you submit to your spouse? That’s for you to decide. But in my book, you would be a lucky person if you could.