✓ Taking Care of Me
✓ Having a Daily Quiet Time
If you and I allow God to make changes in these two areas of life, we can be very thankful come December 31st.
But I think there is one more area that God desires for us to yield to Him: our marriages.
Sigh…
Compared to marriage, it may seem easy to exercise, eat healthy, and Sabbath. And having a quiet time only requires 1% of my day. But, my marriage? That’s getting personal.
What Does the Bible Say about Marriage?
This month I have been reading through the book of I Peter. I take sections of verses at a time, read the Scripture in various translations, and then use a commentary to pull in further meaning. Read more on having a quiet time.
All was good until I came to I Peter 3:1-7. Just six words in, God tells me to submit to my husband.
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, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. I Peter 3:1-2
If you are like me, submitting is easy to do when my husband is doing what I think is right, but when I disagree all respect goes out the window. It’s then that I question if God had it right.
Wives Trust
But knowing God’s Word is true, I have to believe God has a plan. Maybe submission is actually more powerful than persuasive lectures and demanding my way?
The benefit of submission is shown in the way that it affects husbands for God. A wife’s submission is a powerful expression of her trust in God. This kind of faith and obedience can accomplish great things, even without a word.
David Guzik
Submission is an example of trust, faith, and obedience.
I Peter continues…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 (v 5).
When wives submit to their husbands and don’t put trust in their outward appearance, women powerfully demonstrate their faith.
A woman can trust her outward beauty and adornment, or she can trust God and cultivate a gentle and quiet spirit.
David Guzik
Husbands and Their Prayers
If you think husbands are off the hook, think again.
I Peter 3:7…Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
When a husband doesn’t treat his wife with respect and as an heir, it will hinder his prayer life.
What’s Next for Our Marriages?
With the voice of the society so loud, it is hard to recognize God’s purpose for marriage.
I invite you to view of this important video to discover God’s design for marriage and allow the Holy Spirit to change you.
Then pray that God will work in your heart, for that is when your marriage will begin to shift.
A good marriage isn’t something that you find; it’s something you make, and you have to keep on making it. Just as important (and here lies the hope), you can also begin remaking it at any stage.
Gary Thomas, A LifeLong Love
As we close this series on A Fresh Start in 2021, I pray that you can chose one area to focus and celebrate the change God will do.
