Begin with ME Father
Abba Father, please help me to be the woman I need to be... the kind of woman that pleases You...
Walk in the Word
1 Peter 3:1-6
This scripture reveals how a changed woman can be a powerful instrument for change in her husband’s life.
The real adventure
isn’t what God wants to do in your husband’s life; the jolts will come when you
realize what He’s doing in your life!
The changed woman is submissive to her husband. “Wives, likewise,
be submissive to your own husband.” 1 Peter 3:1 The
Greek word for submissive, hupotassõ, means to be subject or
subordinate, to literally place under.
The best illustration of submission comes from traffic. When you see the
“merge” sign, you know that someone has to go first and someone has to go
behind. Too often the I’m-going-to-go first battle causes frustration. Everyone
knows that soon or later there is only going to be room for a single file of
cars.
Submission has nothing to do with equality. The Son is not
pouting around heaven going, “Why can’t I be the Father?” The Son is in
submission to the Father and the Spirit to the Father and the Son. Yet
Scripture teaches they are equal. Headship has nothing to do with equality. Men
and women are equal under God in every way.
Submission also has nothing to do with worth. I love Proverbs 31:10,
“Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.” It’s not about
gifts. In certain areas, my wife has gifts that far exceed mine. It’s about
God’s design for the order in the home. Changed women help God change husbands
by being submissive to their own husband.
The changed woman is chaste in her conduct. Your husband is
going to be “impacted when he observes your chaste conduct accompanied by fear”
v. 2. This describes the effect of what you do in the kitchen, the car, the
backyard, and in the bedroom—every activity in every place. Chaste means holy,
righteous, or pure. Chaste means having godly responses to conflict, being pure
in your dress, your language, your choices of entertainment and being righteous
in decisions. Chaste does not mean self-righteous or judgmental; not uppity or
prudish—just pure. A wife’s purity is a powerful tool God uses for change in
the life of her husband.
The changed woman has a gentle and quiet spirit (see 1 Peter 3:4). Her
attitude is gentle—that is, she’s considerate, unassuming, not pushy or
demanding, not unnecessarily rigorous. The opposite of gentle spirit would be
combative. She’s quiet—not loud-mouthed or known for speaking her mind.
She’s not overpowering or blunt in her words or actions. She is soft-spoken and
calm. She bears the disturbances created by others and does not cause or
contribute to disturbances. She trusts God with her home and entrusts her
husband to God. We all know from experience and from observation, that there is
a woman who stirs the pot and there is a woman who stills the storm. A wife’s
gentle and quiet spirit focuses God’s work on her husband.
A wife might insist, “Well, God didn’t make me like that.” Then like her
husband, she needs to be changed. God is not trying to give her a different
personality. He loves the one that He gave her, but He wants godliness to be
expressed through it. As for her husband, no matter how clearly she sees how
she can “fix” him, God has a better plan. A godly woman uses each impulse to
“improve” her husband as a reminder to pray, “Lord, change me into the person
You want me to be.” Next week, we’ll look at the other potential best-seller: How
a Husband Can Change His Wife!
Walk in the Word
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