1Corinthians 11:11-12 (NIV) 11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12 For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.
Ephesians 5:21 (NIV) Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
“Men and women are interdependent as they live and work “in the Lord” … Just as the woman came originally from man, now all men come through women (in the sense of being born of women). There is mutual dependence here regarding their existence … Paul’s conclusion that “all things are from God” … reminds the Corinthians that in the end God is the source of all things and all glory must find its final focus in him. The statement is broad, indicating that all creation, not just those “in the Lord,” have come from the creator God.” [Paul Gardner, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, 494-495].
What Paul is saying in 1Corinthians 11 is that we’re not meant to be alone or to do our own thing, but rather we’re meant for relationship. It starts with worship “in the Lord” since he is the source of all things. Let proper worship of God impact all of your horizontal relationships in the church. We are interdependent as we live and work “in the Lord”. May mutual love and submission come out of our worship and reverence for Christ.
Today, take time to pray about your relationship(s) before the Lord. Ask God to be glorified in the relationship(s) and pray for unity in the church with Galatians 3:26-28, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
-JH