One Sunday a mum and dad were at church with their children. Their young boy insisted on standing on the chairs. He was placed off the chairs several times and chastised by his dad. After quite a ‘wrestle’, finally he sat, dutifully. His father said that he was a good boy for sitting quietly. He gritted his teeth and said, “I’m standing on the inside!”
All human beings are born with a proud spirit by nature. There is nothing that we find harder than submitting to authorities. The Bible tells us that all authorities that we have to deal with in life – whether parents, government, or any others, are put in place by God. He works through them for the good of the world and humanity (Ro 13:1-7).
Therefore, we are to submit to those authorities as a part of our submitting to God and His good will, and rebelling against those authorities is rebelling against God. The only exception might be when those authorities clearly oppose the word and will of God.
And this affects how we relate to everyone. Paul says, “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph 5:21). Do we constantly complain, and ‘wrestle’ with one another in order to get our own way, or do we humbly listen to one another, and put other’s wishes before our own? This is all a reflection of our submission to God and Christ.
Of course, the key for us to be able to do this is the Gospel. The saving grace of Jesus Christ is only given to the truly humble – those who submit themselves to God and others, which exalts and blesses us more than we can imagine (James 4:10)!
Grace and cheers, Jonathan.