Friday Devotions, 5/11

The Picture Hat
John  Strevens (British 1902-1990)

Friday Devotions, 5/11

Today's Text: 1 Peter 3:1-6

3 Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own 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. 

This passage follows one about Christ's submission on the cross. Then we read, "Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your husbands." Christ won us over by suffering quietly, not by putting up a fight. If you are married to an unbeliever, to a backslider, or to a lazy, undisciplined Christian, keep quiet about your grievances, for your actions will speak louder. Plan and carry out your own devotions, and be in prayer for daily strength, for you will suffer in your heart about your husband's lack of faith. There's no doubt that loving Christ and living with someone who doesn't, is suffering. Pray and ask for prayer, for your burden is indeed great.

Read the Word and live it. Trust in the Holy Spirit to do the rest of the work in your husband's heart. The passage specifically says, "They may be won over without words".

I'm at least ten years older than most of my readers, and at times that generation gap probably creates problems. Young believers in American are succumbing to a "progressive Christianity", similar to a Rob Bell (author of Love Wins), watered-down gospel. 

Here is just part of a review of the Rob Bell book: The theology is heterodox. The history is inaccurate. The impact on souls is devastating. And the use of Scripture is indefensible. Worst of all, Love Wins demeans the cross and misrepresents God’s character.

Feminism is alive and well, too, in "progressive Christianity". Friends, I am not a feminist. I believe God gave explicit instructions in the Word for how women are to be treated, and for how women are to conduct themselves. God is perfect, all-knowing. Whatever he says works, period. 


Many of us were brought up in contrast to what the Bible teaches about women. Growing up, I heard this more than anything else: "Get a good education so you don't have to depend on a man." There's nothing wrong with an education. But the idea that we do it to be independent of a man? That has its problems.


As a result of this sentiment, we have generations of women who don't know how to be homemakers. I knew nothing about homemaking when I married at age 33. I'd spent ten years as a dedicated, workaholic teacher, not in learning how to cook or sew or take care of a home efficiently. 


I still know little, but I'm working on that. If women had these skills, it would be far less necessary for us to bring in extra money. For homemaking skills lend themselves to frugality. Good homemakers are good stewards of the resources God gives.


I would also argue that the selfless love required of mothers is no longer taught either. What is motherhood now? Just a side thing in many minds, to show we can "have it all." 


I don't have to tell you that the nation's children are suffering. They are confused, angry, forgotten. Suicide, killings, etc. are on the rise. I don't bring up these sorrows to depress you, but to show that when we try to make up our own rules, we fail miserably as a people. 


We have a problem in America with young men "failing to launch" in the 18-24 age category. They live with mom and dad longer than their female counterparts. They don't finish or attend college in the same numbers. Women of the same ages outpace them in earnings. Parents aren't holding their boys up to the same standards as their girls. Boys are let alone to do what they want, presumably, which is why men as old as 34 are addicted to video games. Young men and boys nowadays? They waste too much time. They pursue pleasure above all else.


Men are lost and confused. They're no longer raised to lead and provide for families. If our culture had followed the Word as to how men and women were to behave and live, we wouldn't have the serious problems we do now, as a society. It's tragic.


God knows hearts, male and female. He knows women talk too much and try to take control. He knows men can be lazy in carrying out their God-given duties. In his love for us, he's given us instructions on how to live well. We need to embrace God and reject the world.


We have Adam and Eve to thank for some of our natural bents. When God told Eve, "Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you.", he was essentially saying, I have put tension between you, as a punishment for your sin. Your desire will be for your husband translates, "You will want to take control." 


This interpretation--though widely supported among Bible scholars--is not without critics. Some say it merely means women will have a very strong desire to marry and have children. 


As women, I think we can agree here? We have both a strong desire for marriage and children, and a strong desire to get what we want? We want what we want when we want it.

To the woman he said,

“I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;

with pain you will give birth to children.

Your desire will be for your husband,

and he will rule over you.”

17To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;

through painful toil you will eat of it

all the days of your life.

18It will produce thorns and thistles for you,

and you will eat the plants of the field.

19By the sweat of your brow

you will eat your food

until you return to the ground,

since from it you were taken;

for dust you are

and to dust you will return.” Genesis 3:16-19

He knows. His plan, His Word? They help us live in harmony, without disorder. Do not be offended by what the Bible asks of you, as a woman. For God loves you and values you just as much as he does a man. He has provided for you in the Word. He loves men and women equally. Before the Word, women lived horribly oppressed lives. The Bible elevated women, not the opposite.


To be weak as a woman is to be a feminist. Feminists do not believe in restraining their desire to rule. To be strong as a woman is to be submissive.


We don't need feminism to be equal. God says we are equal. 


Prayer Time: Dear Father, this is huge. Help me with this. Help me to be slow to speak, to ask myself what I can do to be a helpmate to my husband. Help me to convey the respect that is in my heart, for I do so respect and admire my husband. Help me to show it with words and deeds. Help me to persevere in daily devotions, so I can live the Word. Help me to win his heart (whether he's a Christian or not) through my obedience to you.


In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

³ Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. ⁴ Rather, 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 adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, ⁶ like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

As much as I love this passage, I grieve at what our appearances have become. I love the painting at the beginning of this post because this women is a picture of femininity; she loves being a women. In most places I go, Christian women are in jeans and non-feminine shirts. ( In mens' style t-shirts, even.)

I wear jeans, but not because I prefer them. It's more because I have no clothing budget. I've tried for over a year to find skirts at thrift stores, but mostly, I find mini-skirts or highly-dressy rayon skirts that I have no shirts or blouses to match. 

Now my jeans...I try to pair them with a feminine top, so that only half of me is unfeminine. I'm still praying about my wardrobe...for the time and money needed to peruse thrift stores, so I can look and feel more feminine. Studies show that children in school uniforms behave better than children in free-style clothing. I wonder if women in feminine clothes would behave more femininely?

Sorry for this digression, but I don't think this passage means we shouldn't care about our appearance. That we shouldn't try, with our appearance, to distinguish ourselves from men. 

Rather, we shouldn't pay so much attention to it that our money is flying out the window on expensive clothing and accessories, and that too much time and money are spent in getting pedicures, manicures, and hairdos.

More time should be spent on our hearts. On our Bible reading and prayer. On kneeling before the Lord when things are hard. If you have time for a time-consuming hairdo at the salon or at home, or to get your nails done, or to shop for clothes, but you don't have time for devotions, then your heart is in the wrong place.

You can look beautiful on the outside, but if the inside is ugly, you aren't fooling anyone, including your husband and children.

Submitting ourselves to our husband, as Sarah did, is the "adornment" God desires from us.

Prayer Time:  Dear Father, help me to adorn myself with godly character and submission, above all else. Help me to take care of my heart, nourishing it daily, washing it daily, with the Word and with prayer. Help me to guard my tongue as well, so that a gentle and quiet nature emerges. Help me to be an inspiration in this for my daughters, and to help my boys, through my behavior, to understand what to look for in a godly woman.

In your son's name I pray, Amen.

Scripture source

painting source