I’m so thankful for my husband, Tony. The blessings of being married to him are beyond words.
It’s my delight to serve Tony and submit to him. And it’s his joy to serve me and lay down his life for me. Really, it’s a race to go lower. A mutual submission.
It wasn’t always that way.
Early in our marriage, I might have been sitting down on the outside, but inside I was standing up. I might have appeared to be quiet and submissive. Inside, I was screaming, “But it isn’t fair!”
What’s the difference?
Early in our marriage, I was taught a legalistic hierarchical view. God is over man. Man is over woman—and specifically, husband is over wife. Jesus said, “It shall not be this way among you” (referring to hierarchy).
When hierarchy is removed, it’s easy to obey Ephesians 5: Submit yourselves to one another, wives to husbands, and husbands laying down their lives for their wives. And it makes for a wonderful marriage relationship.
Adapted from Felicity Dale‘s blog, Kingdom Women. Felicity is an author and an advocate for women in the church. She trains people to start simple, organic house churches around the world.
Janet Perez Eckles 
Shawn Akers 
Abby Trivett