Submission is not a gift. It is an art and an attitude that should be taught at the family level. Many men feel that submitting to their wives means losing their identity, authority, and reflects weakness. This wrong understanding of submission has caused many men to struggle with being submissive.
Research shows that many men who do not know how to submit to their wives were those who could not adequately submit to the authority of parents and older relatives at home. Such men have always believed in self-dependence. To them, the art of submission is aimed at controlling them. As a result, many could not submit to their parents and guardians.
Another category of men who do not know how to submit to their wives were those brought up to believe that women are under men and should always take orders from them. There is yet another category: men who grew up in a home where the mother was regarded only as a child factory, cook, and keeper at home.
We should teach the art of submission to our sons and loved ones. If we fail to do so, our sons will become rascally husbands, bad husbands who will in turn produce insensitive sons who may also become uncaring husbands. You may end up having a lineage and leaving an inheritance of insensitive males.
Parents, let us teach our male children that submission is for men too. It is not only for women. It takes two pilots to fly an aeroplane; it takes two engines to power the airplane. Your family and marriage life are more delicate. It takes both of you to pilot the relationship. Submission makes you a real man. Submission makes our sons real husbands. Love you!
Bishop Charles Ighele is the General Superintendent of Holy Spirit Mission, Lagos.
