Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. (I Peter 3:1-6)
Yes, the same verses as yesterday, and now we’re
back to the dreaded discussion of submission. I think one of the reasons God
brings this subject up in Scripture is because it’s one of the hardest things
we do. It goes against our desire to be “like God,” to be in control, to be
correct, and even to be valued. In one way or another, most people might claim
that they don’t want to be God, but their actions show that they at least want
to be a Karen (except Karens, who know that it’s not enough.)
None of us want to be submissive because we’re
afraid it will mean never having a say, never getting our way, but the
alternative is battle. As a Karen, I tend to be the battling sort. I argue. I
demand. I expect. Of course, the same is true of a lot of people out there, probably
of all of us. Even the easy-going want their way and tend to adopt an attitude of
martyrdom.
This morning, one of the comments I saw on social
media had to do with voting for Mr. Biden “because he will bring unity to the country.”
I responded (as I have in this blog at least once, I think, that if the person
wants unity, they can have unity very simply: she can live the way I tell her
to live and think the way I think. Of
course, the reality isn’t that she wants unity. She wants unity on her
terms. She wants everyone to be required to live according to her standards, and
she believes that Mr. Biden’s election will result in everyone thinking the way
she does. This would be foolishness no
matter which candidate she chose, but it’s the same game. Unity isn’t
important. Power is. Unity is just the weapon she’s using to gain that power.
Submission is the only means to sanity. It’s the
only means to peace. It’s necessary to hope, joy, health, and a lasting
relationship of any value.
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