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Written in October 2006

According to Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, submission is:

SUBMIS’SION, n. [L. submissio, from submitto.]

The act of submitting; the act of yielding to power or authority; surrender of the person and power to the control or government of another.

Acknowledgment of inferiority or dependence; humble or suppliant behavior.

Acknowledgment of a fault; confession or error.

Obedience; compliance with the commands or laws of a superior. Submission of children to their parents is an indispensable duty.

Resignation; a yielding of one’s will to the will or appointment of a superior without murmuring. Entire and cheerful submission to the will of God is a christian duty of prime excellence.

WOW! Look at #5 – it says “without murmuring” … SO I looked up murmuring in Noah’s dictionary and got:

Uttering complaints in a low voice or sullen manner; grumbling; complaining. “in a low voice or sullen manner” — sullen meaning angrily in a quiet manner.

Do you think God is telling us to submit and not to complain under our breath or in our actions?

Today’s Merriam Webster dictionary is far from the definitions that Noah has from this 1828 dictionary … these are the definitions of the words used in the King James Bible. Not today’s filtered and watered down definitions. A good study to see the difference is to look up the word sin in both dictionaries and you will be amazed at what the devil has done. Merriam-Webster doesn’t elaborate and so their definition pretty much leaves it to the reader to determine exactly what is meant. The heart is perfectly wicked, the Word says. So no one will search out their sin in Merriam-Webster’s definition. However, Noah’s is very defined.

Can you tell I love to study the Word??? I may have bored you all to tears but at least I got it out of my system!

In any case, submission according to Kate is:

Yielding my will to my husband because he was given the authority over me (appointed as my superior) and I am to yield with my mouth and my heart because what’s in the heart comes out the mouth.

Kate Plourde
March 23, 2006