Day 20 – 1 Peter 3:1-6

3 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, ² when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. ³ Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. ⁴ Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. ⁵ For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, ⁶ like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. ^[1]

The Apostle Paul in his letters does not have very much to say about wives beyond the necessity of submitting in all things to their husbands, and in the case of the letter to the church in Corinth, to also respect their husbands. The Apostle Peter, on the other hand, has more to say to wives, though, interestingly, he begins his marital instructions in the same manner as Paul, “wives submit to your husbands. It would appear that marital submission was as much an issue as it is today. The reason may very well be a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to submit to a husband. For many submission is seen as a negation of equality between the spouses and the woman is seen as enslaved to the husband. But the truth of the matter is that submission is a voluntary estate designed more for leadership of the management type after the example of the military. The wife voluntarily subjects herself to her husband by placing him in the position of leadership. In that leadership position, a husband cannot force his wife into subjection because she is in control of how or if she submits.

For the wife’s part submission has the purpose of bringing unbelieving husbands to salvation through her actions and not her words. Her actions, according to Peter, include how she presents herself to her husband. Her outward appearance is insufficient to convey her submission. The kind of submission necessary to win over a husband is the type that comes from so far within that sincerity is never in question. This kind of submission is not very popular today, just as the love necessary from a husband for a successful marriage is not; but, if two people truly love each other and God, then love and respect is a small price to pay in manifesting mutual submission.

Dear Lord, there is so much about marriage that we do not understand. There are days when it seems an impossible calling and we wonder why we bother. Then there are days when we are so grateful that you gave us one to the other. We know the enemy of our souls fights against our marriages by amplifying our frustrations and fears; and, through the plethora of images and sounds that fill our ports. Give us the courage to stand in our privilege as Your children, binding the enemy and taking authority over our marriages so that You may be glorified, and unbelievers saved, in Jesus’ name. Amen.