Submission: That Ugly, Dirty Word.

Written in 2017, published 2018, because college. I'm a year older and wiser than this post, but even I learned from reading the words I wrote a year ago. I hope they mean something to you, too.

Children are the furthest thing from my mind, half way through my twenty-first year of life, and yet their lessons are still ever lingering, even as I dive deeper into life while yet still in its early stages. The ways of children both haunt and amaze their parents, teachers, other children, theologians, but none more so than I when reading the revere with which Jesus considered children in the cosmological macro-scope. I've been reading from a book called Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster for a college class and I want to share something briefly about submission, that ugly, dirty word. I'm going to paraphrase since my book is buried in the rest of the collegiate material I've saved.

Power is discovered in submission.

Now, you might be thinking, Submission? What? That's completely counter to being independent and happy. I assure you it isn't. 

Submission, or as Foster puts it, self-denial, or for our purposes... submitting your will and your instincts to God and the needs of others, is not the same thing as self-contempt, or, in simpler terms, placing your own personal well-being as a lower priority in your life. At the same time, self-contempt, thinking down on ourselves, or only ever putting others above our own well-being suggests that we have NO worth, and even if we do have worth, we should reject it before the worth of others. 

Contrarily, self-denial without self-hatred declares that we are of infinite worth and the theory of it shows us how to realize that worth.

Let's break this down: 

Claim: Jesus made the ability to love ourselves the prerequisite for reaching out to others.

Warrant 1: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt. 22:39). 

Claim: Jesus made it quite clear that self-denial is the only sure way to love ourselves most fully.

Warrant 1: "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." (Matt. 10:39).

Warrant 2: "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:13).

Claim: Loving others means submission,  the beautiful kind.

Thesis: By self-emptying, we become filled.

This simple idea is so necessary to any exchange between any humans. Happy children give because it makes them happy. Their instinct is to make others happy, to be silly, accepting, and loving— the way Jesus meant "submissive". Submission to God —minute by minute— and concern for others primarily over ourselves— in any given moment—fills us with purpose, for submission is the ultimate design. Humans are wired to love, wired to hug, to shake hands, and to connect.

So this begs the question: why be selective about your love for mankind, when it's your quickest route to a smile, to fulfillment? 

Whether you're returning to the office after Christmas festivities, or the classroom, or staying home with the family, submission will always mean that the love you have for others is your primary concern, the same way my nephew Hunter desires to makes his family smile over discomfort, exhaustion, and snacks.

Jesus said to "Love your enemies"; if you can do this, you can love anyone. Pure, loving relationships are born from pure and honest characters. 

If you are responsible for your character, then does it not follow that you are also responsible for the relationships and —concurrently— the people you value and — conversely— do not value? If you value all relationships and make it known that this is so, even the store clerks will know you value them. To be valued, loved, is a need of human nature. It's where our worth is found.

Now, to live in a world where you're always at ease is a dream, but to live in a world where you endure life and overcome its qualms along with the ones you love and who love you, that can be your reality. Ultimately, whether that reality belongs to you or not is your choice. Do not stand in the way of your own happiness, only to wonder down the road where it is. Likewise, do not consciously remain the object of another's discomfort. Show everyone, even in your dullest of moods, that you love them, that Jesus loves them, and you, yourself, on your own can convey the story of Redemption through a single glance. After all, isn't that why we're here?

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these" (Matthew 19:14). 

Hunter, my step-nephew, Age 2.