5/12/2026 Weekly Bible message

5/12/2026 Weekly Bible message

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Welcome back to the Lifeline Church Peterstown Podcast. I'm your host, Mark Williams, and I'm joined once again with my beautiful wife, Charity. For our third episode of our series, Call Back to the Blueprint.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

Hey everyone. We are so glad you are here today.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

Last week's episode on healing after betrayal was heavy. But it was important.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Yes, um, we talked about broken trust, pain, rebuilding after betrayal, forgiveness, emotional wounds, and how betrayal can completely shape your identity and confidence. Honestly, I know for me, there was a season where I was completely lost. I forgot who I was.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

It damages trust. Sometimes trust in people, and sometimes even trust in God's design. As it says in Proverbs 3, 5 through 6, trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your path straight.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

And when you've been betrayed, hurt, abandoned, manipulated, abused, or disappointed, trusting again feels terrifying. And if we're being honest, survival mode teaches us to stay guarded, to protect ourselves, to stay in control, to never fully depend on anyone again.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

And that's why today's topic connects so deeply to last week's, because you can't really talk about biblical submission without talking about healing first.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

And because unhealthy people hear the word submission and think, lose yourself, stay quiet, be controlled, accept mistreatment. But that's not God's heart. And honestly, a lot of resistance to submission, it doesn't come from rebellion. It comes from wounds. Psalm 147.3 tells us that he heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

God never intended marriage to feel unsafe, he designed it to reflect reflect Christ, which means love, sacrifice, protection, trust, and servanthood.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

And if betrayal taught you to build um walls, healing with God teaches you how to rebuild trust the right way. So with that, let's dive into today's topic. Into a word that makes a lot of people uncomfortable. Some might even hit pause right now.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

Um, yeah, this this might be the episode where some listeners start to, you know, side-eye their speaker.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

We're talking about submission. And before you tune out, here is out. We're not talking about control, silence, oppression, or one person being less than the other.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

No, we're talking about what God actually designed in marriage, not the distortion distorted version culture has pushed, or the painful version some have experienced through misuse.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

I believe submission is so misunderstood because it has been deeply abused. There are women listening right now who have been hurt, controlled, silenced, or diminished in the name of submission. And let me say clearly, that is not what God designed. That breaks my heart.

SPEAKER_01 5:01

And on the other side, there are men who have weaponized scripture to self-justify selfish domineering behavior. Um that's not biblical leadership, it's that's spiritual abuse. Um, God will hold us accountable for how we handle his word and how we treat our wives.

SPEAKER_00 5:25

And let's start with a verse that sets the whole context.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

And it's a Ephesians 5, 21. Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Submission in marriage doesn't begin with the wife only, it begins with both of us submitting first to Jesus. That's a mutual posture that changes everything.

SPEAKER_00 5:55

It sure does. And let's look at the text from Ephesians 5, 22 through 24. It says, Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its savior. Now, as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

This passage is often read in isolation, but it's it's part of a larger picture of mutual love and respect. Uh submission is not about being less than important or less intelligent or less valuable. Uh it's about trusting God's order and design for marriage. Um, the same way the church trusts and follows Christ.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

Submission is strength under control, trusting God even when you don't understand, or when it feels risky, choosing unity over winning an argument, supporting your husband's leadership instead of competing with it, a posture of honor, not humiliation. For me, this was hard. After everything I've been through, past hurts, broken trust, betrayal, my natural instinct was to protect myself, to build walls, and I'm pretty good at that, and stay guarded. Never fully let anyone in. I thought that was strength.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

And that makes total sense when you've been wounded. Um, self-protection feels like survival.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

But God, He didn't call me to live behind thick emotional walls forever. He called me to healing, He called me to trust Him first, and then to trust the man He placed in my life as I saw Him following Christ. That shift changed our marriage. So let's be crystal clear about what submission is not. It is not being silent or losing your voice, it is not of use, physical, emotional, verbal, or spiritual. It is not being controlled or manipulated, and it is not being less valuable or beneath your husband.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

If a man is demanding submission by refusing to love sacrificially like Christ, he is in sin and needs to repent. God is not glorified by that. Look at the very next verse in Ephesians 5 25. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. My role is not to rule you, my role is to die, to uh is to die myself to myself daily to you, uh, and to serve you and to lead spiritually, to protect, to cherish. And that's a heavy high and heavy calling.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

And when it's done God's way, submission isn't heavy or oppressive. It's actually free. And there's peace when we're not fighting for control.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

Yeah, when I lead when I lead well, I'm not controlling charity. I'm serving her. I'm creating a safe space where she can thrive in her gifts, her calling, and her femininity.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

And when I walk in my role, I'm not losing myself. I'm actually stepping into the fullness of who God created me to be, under the covering and leadership of my husband who is chasing Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

We're not fighting for control, we're fighting for unity.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

So, what does that look like in real life, day to day? For wives, speak with respect, even in those heated moments, bring concerns to your husband and honor, not with contempt or constant criticism. Pray before pushing your agenda. Sometimes God moves more through your prayers than your pressure. Support his leadership instead of undermining it behind his back or in front of the kids.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Yeah, and for husbands, lead spiritually. Don't you know advocate and leave it all on her shoulders. Initiate prayer, devotions, and church involvement. Listen to understand, not just to respond or fix. Uh be consistent in your walk with God and in your character. Not controlling, uh, but steady and trustworthy. Make decisions with your wife's insight, not in isolation.

SPEAKER_00 11:14

Her perspective is a And I'll be honest with you, this wasn't natural for me at first. I had to learn to trust again. Not just Mark, but God. There were moments I wanted to run back to my old patterns of self-protection.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

And I had to become the kind of man she could actually trust. Um, that meaning owning my own failures, repenting quickly, growing in patience, and constantly putting her and our family before myself. It's a daily dying to sell.

SPEAKER_00 11:55

But as we've both leaned into God's design, our marriage has grown deeper, more intimate, and more joyful than I ever thought possible.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

And uh 1 Peter 3, 1 through 4 gives us such a beautiful picture. Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if uh someday do not obey the word, they may be one without the word by the conduct of their wives. But let your adorning adjoin adjourning be hidden, uh person of heart with the imperial beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

Submission, it isn't weakness, it's obedience to God and a powerful testimony.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

And leadership isn't about power, it's or privilege, it's responsibility, it and it's sacrifice. So, you know, thank you for much to listening. Uh thank you for listening to us today. If it encouraged you, um you know, please like and share. Um and leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

Um But before we go, we'd like to pray for you. Dear Heavenly Father, God, I just pray for each and every person that's listening, God, uh under um your words, God, that you would just be with them, God, and just um if they need healing, God, or repentance, God, or if they're in a a terrible situation, God, I pray, God, that they would come to you, God, and on their knees, God, and that they would just ask you what to do, God. Just repent for whatever it is that they've that they're into or that they've got themselves into, God. And God, I just pray, God, that you would give them the answers they need, God, and just be with them, God. Give them the words that they need to hear, God. And I pray, God, that you would put somebody in their life, God, that would just that they would know God, it's from you, God, without a shadow of doubt that they have come with the words that the words of Jesus. God, we just love you and we thank you, God. God, I thank you for my marriage, God. I thank you for my husband. I thank you for my family, God. I thank you for everything that you do for us, God. We worship you and we praise you. And it's in Jesus' name we pray.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

Amen.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

And just remember, we'd love to hear how God is working in your marriage. Um, come join us in person at Lifeline Church Peterstown on Sunday mornings at 11 a.m. or catch us live on YouTube or Carla Bragg's Facebook page. Um we have Lifeline Kids every Sunday, Wednesday evenings at 6. And um we have women's and men's small groups on Wednesdays, plus kids and youth. And every Friday evening at 5:30 is celebrate recovery, and at 6 p.m. on Sunday evenings is youth.

SPEAKER_00 15:34

And don't forget, we have BBS coming up. It's called Kingdom Seekers, and it will be June the 22nd. It's when it will begin from 6 to 8.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

Oh, okay. Yeah. That sounds like fun.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

It's going to be a great time.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

And thanks for listening, and God bless you.