- Pray for godly wisdom and do not doubt. You will receive it in due time. – James 1:5-7
- You must “exercise” yourself in these things constantly if you want to grow. – 1 Timothy 4:7-8
To be self-willed and headstrong means you’ve always got to be the boss, in charge and in control, always having it your way. To learn these ways of God in this epistle, you must rid yourself of these things.
The ways of God are to be submissive and willing to yield to others with all contentment, which means letting others be in charge and doing things their way, doing what they want to do:
- James 3:17 — But the wisdom that is from above (God’s wisdom/ways) is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
- Ephesians 5:21 — submitting to one another in the fear of God.
- 1 Peter 5:5 — Yes, all of you be submissive to one another
Why? It all once again goes back to the entire point of life: true peace and joy. For those yielding, it makes for a peaceful, content life – letting others be in charge and make the decisions (being in charge can be very stressful and overwhelming. It’s freeing letting others take the reins). For those who occasionally get to lead or make a decision, it brings joy. To those who are headstrong and self-willed and always demand to have it their way, they are trained for when things aren’t going their way, that they are in mental agony – it is painful for them, bringing feelings opposite of joy and peace (frustration, selfishness, anger, bitterness, depression, anxiety, nervousness, stress, worry, panic, fear).
When not to submit: When it comes to breaking the law and doing ungodly things.
The age of technology: We can even yield to our technology. A couple examples: yielding to a stoplight and letting it be in charge of managing the traffic instead of having your own opinion about when the light should turn, which will rid your frustration when the light takes a long time to change and will bring you the peace of selflessness in knowing your fellow man gets to go first. Yielding to a coffee maker or a microwave, letting it be in charge of making your coffee or meal, letting it do its thing, which will rid you of your frustration of how long it’s taking to make your coffee or meal. When not to yield to technology – the nanosecond it becomes aware and has the capability to enslave God’s master creation – humans 😁.
Knowing how to yield and be submissive with all contentment is a very peaceful and joyful end to all bitter disagreement, as well as envy of others’ authority – especially in marital and business relationships.
In a godly familial structure, the children yield to the parents in all things (that are not evil). The wife yields to the husband in all things (that are not evil), and the husband loves his wife and honors her and yields to her in things not mission critical for his God-ordained role of leading the household (it goes without saying that the man must know how to lead his family in the ways of God, or else how will his wife be able to trust his guidance?). A couple examples: where does the wife want to go to dinner? What does the wife want to buy (permitted the finances are available, which is where the man who knows how to lead steps in)? How does the wife want to decorate the home?