It’s not about your rights
“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:21)
The first word of our verse for this week is a word which is likely not very popular with people.
It is not popular to subject or submit yourself to someone else. Our world encourages everyone to stand up for his or her rights. The feminist movement promotes women’s rights. The homosexual movement promotes so-called “gay” rights (they ruined a perfectly good word that used to mean, happy). Some advocate children’s rights to be free from parental authority (although they never seem to extend those rights to children who still happen to be in the womb). PETA promotes animal rights, often over and above human rights. If you think that your rights have been violated, you can easily find a lawyer who will take your case to court.
The world we live in and our sinful nature will always will want to fight for their own “rights”. But, Paul is talking to Christians about the results of having faith or being filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul’s words encourage us to lay aside our rights and humbly serve one another in love.
We have said it before, but one of our goals as Christians is to live like Jesus did. Nowhere or no time during his life on earth did Jesus advocate for his rights. He constantly was acting in humility and looking how he could serve others. That is why Paul concludes the verse with “out of reverence for Christ.”
Jesus’ ultimate act of submission was putting himself under the will of God the Father and innocently dying for my sins, your sins and the sins of the whole world.
I’m not sure that any of us will ever have to submit ourselves to death for our faith, but how often aren’t we in a position where we want to think and act for ourselves first instead of someone else? We all are privileged to work in a ministry which began with a lady thinking of others first instead of herself. Do you carry that attitude with you to work at TLHA every day? Are you ready and willing to put those whom you serve, their family members, your coworkers and everyone else whom you encounter and even those who might just see you in passing ahead of you? Are you willing to serve each one of them in love?
There’s one other thing we need to understand about these words from God through Paul. God is not just telling us to act this way toward fellow Christians or people whom we think deserve such an attitude or actions. This is the way we are to act toward everyone, all the time. This reminds us to have the attitude of humble service not just at work or connected to the ministry of TLHA. Paul’s words direct us to the attitude we are to have in our family and everywhere we go in life. Who knows when by laying aside our rights and humbly serving someone else in love, we might have an opportunity to show the love of Christ to someone who has never known or seen it.
As hard as it is, remember that it’s not about your rights!