Joseph’s and Nephi’s experience with their brothers are evidences of Satan’s power to distort the truth, to appeal to our carnal desires for rebellion, to help us to find justification for not submitting to those God has appointed over us. Satan tries to make us see submission to those rulers in the same way the arrogant, pride filled world does, which is that submission is something degrading, humiliating, a form of bondage or an indication of our lack of power or worth..... The truth is vastly different.
King Benjamin, who had authority over the people of the Nephites, and who exercised it in righteousness, warned of this trend of the natural man toward rebellion against righteous authority with these inspired and powerful words; “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” Mosiah 3:19 (Emphasis Added)
While serving as a Leadership instructor in an Army officer school, I leaned much about both ruling and submission. For 3 years I taught leadership, and as part of that assignment I collected essays from students and studied the citation of Medal of Honor winners. I learned that LOVE is a common characteristic of all great leaders. Almost without fail, the soldiers respected, honored, and had no problems submitting to the orders of leaders they knew cared for them. The love they felt from those leaders engendered trust, which was the foundation for their willing submission to the directives of such leaders. One soldier cryptically expressed that truth with these words; “I would walk through Hell with a can of gasoline for that man!” There was nothing degrading, embarrassing, or humiliating about such submission. In fact, it seemed not only appropriate, but expected for soldiers to respond in such a way to those rare, loving, trustworthy, military leaders. Contrarily, if a military leader used fear as a motivator, and sought only their own aggrandizement, the Solider might still obey the directives to avoid punishment, but they would only do the bare minimum, and carried rebellion against such leaders in their hearts and minds. That type of submission was pure fraud.
Righteous submission then, is an ennobling act of love, the fruit of a humble spirit. When we see clearly the loving sacrifices and efforts of those who have authority over us, submission becomes a natural and worthy desire. When I am close to the spirit my soul has no desire to rebel against God. I rejoice that He will always have authority over me, and delight that if worthy, I might be able to show my love and gratitude by submitting to His will through all eternity. Again, while a common LDS testimony seems to be the familiarization with Jesus by referring to him as our elder brother, I hope to always see him as my Savior and Redeemer. I resonate with the cry of the suddenly humbled Thomas, who submissively kneeling before Christ proclaimed; “My Lord and My God!” When Elder McConkie spoke about a future day when he would wet the Savior’s feet with his tears, there was not the slightest inkling in my mind about groveling or humiliating submission, rather I knew the expression to be true, good, pure, and felt deeply that I would gladly do the same. I do not now, and hope I will never, entertain thoughts of Jesus as my peer, as an equal. I honestly hope that I will never forget his infinite atonement wrought in my behalf, and that my gratitude for that will forever compel me to be submissive to His desires, just as He remained ever submissive to His father.
Similarly, I love and revere my earthly parents and will have no issue submitting to them in their glorified state for all eternity. I have no desire to be their peer. I want them to always be enthroned in their role as my parents, and cannot conceive of a heaven, where my Mom and Dad, are transformed into merely Sandra and James. Through the endless ages I look forward to submitting to them even "as a child doth submit to his father."
When we gratefully recognize the true love, deep dedication and selfless sacrifices, performed by those God has given authority over us, our trust in them will solidify and then our submission will become the perfect expression of gratitude, the sublime indicator of an unwavering trust. Submission in that way, becomes the proof of the sincerity of our love!
Next: Submission: Person or Position?