“Submit to one another out of reverence to Christ”.

Ephesians 5:21

Living with a puppy has certainly brought some excitement to our lives. It can be frustrating at times, but it can also bring such great joy! One of the hardest things is getting Luxie to understand that she is not her own master! She sure can pull on those heart strings sometimes, and wears her crown well, but in the end, she must give her crown away for peace to be restored.

We all have crowns that we wear. Ya know the one that says that we can do things better than somebody else. Or the one that appoints us to criticize. Maybe it’s the one that’s territorial or doesn’t want to share. Or the one that allows us freedom to say what we want to say because we have the right to say it. Of course, there’s the crown that says we can do everything ourselves, and the one that says there are no other rules except for our own.

Ah yes! The crowns of control, selfishness, pride, and arrogance. To be fair though, sometimes it’s a crown we don’t even realize that we are wearing.

But wearing our own crowns can be exhausting. Not only does it affect our inner peace, but our peace and joyful moments with others will suffer as well.

Removing our crowns isn’t something that comes naturally! But just as Luxie is learning to behave better, so can we. And gosh, we have been given a perfect example to follow. Jesus gave up His crown – if only temporarily – to train us in righteousness; “He emptied himself of his outward glory by reducing himself to the form of a lowly servant. He became human! He humbled himself and became vulnerable, choosing to be revealed as a man and was obedient. He was a perfect example, even in his death—a criminal’s death by crucifixion” (Philippians 2:7-8 TPT)!

Jesus did this to make us trainable! We are promised a crown of beauty (Isaiah 61:3), a crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8) and a crown that never fades away (1 Corinthians 9:25).

But getting these crowns require hard work. It requires that we too, make ourselves vulnerable and humble ourselves enough to allow someone else to get the glory in the moment. Our crowns will come when our time on earth is done! But somehow, when we give up our own crowns now, we find a little piece of heaven right here on earth too when we experience peace and joy in our internal and external relationships. And God gets the ultimate glory because we are unable to do this on our own.

So go ahead and take off that crown and give it to somebody else. Do it their way for a change. Or let that criticism slide into a loving teachable moment at just the right time. Let somebody else do that thing that you have always done. Or hold that tongue! Allow somebody to help you (but you gotta let them do it their own way), or play by somebody else’s rules. As long as what’s being done is not unethical, ungodly, or unbiblical, it’s ok to let it slide. And who knows, you might even see a more beautiful side of your box in doing so.

Submitting to one another doesn’t mean allowing yourself to be walked over or disregarded. Submitting to one another means taking your own ways and yielding it to a different authority. So, when you submit to others out of reverence for Christ, you are allowing God to replace your self-made crown with His own.

It’s a work in progress- I know this too well! Each day I wake up with different crowns on my head, but every day I have to allow myself to be trained. I have to be vulnerable and humble enough to throw off my ugly crowns in order to appreciate the crowns of others. And I have to allow God to show me His. I have to let go of being my own master, and allow God to be Who He Is. It’s a struggle, but it’s a struggle worth fighting for.

Who’s crown will you be wearing today?

#SaturdaySoulSearch