Submission

Dear Victorious,

I've read your writing about how Christians are supposed to submit to God, submit to leaders, etc. Just what exactly is submission?

Hannah M. - Jackson Hole, WY

Dear Hannah,

Submission is voluntarily cooperating with someone - but not because you agree with them or want the same things they want. Rather the first motives for this cooperation are love and respect for God - and then love and respect for that person.

Christian submission never requires us to disobey God or compromise our own conscience. It never requires us to remain in an unsafe situation. But it can require tremendous inner strength. This is particularly true when it is one-sided submission. So submission may be something that you can only achieve with the help of the Holy Spirit's power within you.