Ah, here we are at last. The final discipline! Rather than give a lengthy introduction, I think I'd rather just jump right in. This week's discipline was that of Submission. If you're like me, the picture that comes to mind when I hear submission is something like a kid yelling "uncle" when another guy has him in a headlock. In other words, I think of a weaker party yielding to a stronger one, usually involuntarily. However, through my study of submission I've discovered that it actually takes great strength to submit to another--especially to do it willingly. I had pictured submission as enslaving myself in small and big ways to other people, but I discovered that the act of submission actually frees us. It frees us from ourselves, our own will, and the burden of things having to go our way.
Submission has greatly to do with attitude, the spirit of joy with which we submit and serve. And so with this in mind, my task this week was to accept tasks, or opportunities to serve other people and do them with a spirit of joy. I found this to manifest itself most prominently in how I spend my money and who I spend it on. The number of dollars in my bank account would give any good-humored person a good laugh. But this week I decided to spend some time and money on someone in my life who has even less than I do.
Something I discovered through this practice, however, is that it was incredibly easy to serve someone I love with a spirit of joy. How much more difficult would it be to serve someone that slights me, or someone I'm mad at, or even someone that I just don't like? A lot more difficult, I bet. It's not so easy for me to unconditionally love another when I feel like their attitude doesn't merit my love. I'm constantly reminded of how much my love falls short to Christ's. I myself don't deserve his love or his submission and yet he gave it to me. These disciplines are a means to become more like Christ, and in turn gain freedom from ourselves.
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