By Pastor Rey Diaz
There is a word that has brought so much harm to
Christianity. It has been used to dominate
others, manipulate partners and lord over people. It’s a word that makes me shudder when I hear
it. It brings up thoughts of
authoritarian leadership, dictatorships, and even oppressive regimes. Yet, it’s a word that so many of the New
Testament writers spoke about. When
these writers looked at the life and teachings of Jesus, they used this word to
describe what God did on our behalf and how we should respond to one another.
The “s” word is submit. In Ephesians 5:21, Paul tells us to “submit
to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
In Philippians 2, he explains how God submitted to us when he put our
needs and our interest before his needs and interest. In our relationship with God, God made us the
priority. He treats you like the most
important person in the room. That’s what mutual submission looks like. In a relationship, any relationship, we say “you
are the priority.” They say “no you’re
the priority.” No. You’re the
priority.
That’s one of the mysteries of the gospel. Why would God do so much for us? Why would God sacrifice so much for us? Why would God go through terrible suffering
for us? Why would God put himself under us – to submit to us? God demonstrated his love for us that while
we were so far away, he died for us. God
did all of this because God is love.
Now, what if we take that idea and apply it to our special
relationship we want to stay in love with.
What if we made a simple decision?
I am going to treat this person
like they are actually and literally the most important person in the room. And what if they responded likewise? I think that is what it means to make love a
verb: it’s making love active, it’s doing something. Can you try it this week?
This week look for a way to show your partner that they are the most important person in the room.
Why? Because that is what your savior chose to do for you by
dying on the cross on your behalf.
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