Submission, What is it anyway?

Ephesians 5:21-24 says "And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22. For wives this means submit to your husbands as the Lord. 23. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. 24. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything."

Submitting to another person is an often misunderstood concept. It does not mean becoming a doormat. Christ submitted His will to the Father and we honor Christ by following His example. When we submit to God, we become more willing to obey His command to submit to others. In a marriage relationship, both husband and wife are called to submit. For the wife, this means willingly following her husband's leadership in Christ. For the husband, it means putting aside his own interests in order to care for his wife.

According to the Bible, the man is the spiritual head of the family, and his wife should acknowledge his leadership. But real spiritual leadership involves loving service (a form of dying). Just as Christ served the disciples, even to the point of washing their feet, so the husband is to serve his wife.
A wise and Christ-honoring husband will not take advantage of his leadership role and a wise and Christ-honoring wife will not try to undermine her husband's leadership. Either approach causes disunity and friction in marriage.

Read on in Ephesians 5:25-30. (for the sake of saving space, I won't type it here).--Look it up.
Paul devotes twice as many words to telling husbands to love their wives as to telling wives to submit to their husbands. How should a man love his wife? (1) He should be willing to sacrifice everything for her, (2) make her well being of primary importance, and (3) care for her as he cares for his own body. No wife needs to fear submitting to a man who treats her in this way.

My prayer: I strive to be a submissive wife, Lord help me to be as you have called me to be submissive to my husband and he to love me as You have love the Church. Help us to not take advantage of each other or the commands You have given us but to embrace them as the Word says. Submission is rarely a problem in couples that have a strong relationship with You. I ask that You continue to help us build our relationship with You and one another so that we can continue to be submissive toward one another. I ask this all in Jesus' name, Amen.