Morning Musings-Sarah's Daughters

  Morning Musings with the boys at breakfast...





Here we are again talking about submission; just can't seem to get away from it.  In God's scheme of things though, its a desirable character trait.  He is pleased to see it in His children as we saw from Good Lives...Good Deeds yesterday.  God's chain of command lovingly bids the wives "to be submissive to their husbands" (1 Peter 3:1-7, esp vs 1).  The guideline for this is "in the same way".  

The "same way" as what or whom?  Back up a couple of verses to 1 Peter 2:20-25 where we learn from Jesus's example of submission.  Out of love for us and obedience to His Father He went to the cross for us to take the penalty for our sins.

There was "no deceit in His mouth", He had suffered and endured for doing good.  In Jesus was NO sin.  Now in human beings, it goes without saying, we do have sin; however, 1 Peter 3:2 tells us the wife has "purity and reverence" through her submission to her husband.  God in turn can reward such a wife with having her husband "won over".  Do wives like to have their husband listen to them?  You betcha!  Ladies, this is "won over" without words.  Amazing isn't it?!  Powerful and this is not to manipulate the husband in any way.  Without words...most men don't like too many words, I think, this is a "won over" quiet coup.

There is further reward implied here too.  If the wife has a non-Christian husband, this portion gives great encouragement and hope that he will come to Christ by how the wife behaves!  (See also 1 Corinthians 7:10-14).  It's not a magical guarantee but God does love to bless us.  We just must be faithful to Him whatever happens.

Further to the submission, purity and reverence in a wife's life, an inner character of a "gentle and quiet spirit' gives "unfading beauty".  This is what a Christian wife should strive for.  The more a wife ages, the more unfading will be her beauty.  How do you like that!?  God does have a sense of humor does He not?  On top of that she has "won over" her husband; what woman wouldn't want either of these?  Well, wives, you know what to do.

Potential wives, start now.  Potential husbands, look for those qualities in a sister-in-Christ 'of interest'.  Let these be guiding factors in your choosing, let NOT the outward appearance fool you.  According to God's Word, you won't be disappointed.

It was discovered that being holy as God is holy is another major way of Christian living and is of "great worth" to God.   Take note that holiness also creates beauty (1 Peter 3:5) on top of the submission.  Sarah, Abraham's wife, "made herself beautiful" in this way.  Wives, potential wives, we do well to follow suit.  My sons, take note as well.  If a young lady has these attributes emanating from her devotion to God and all He's done for her through Jesus, she may well be the excellent helpmeet for you one day.

Be in prayer before God as to whom to marry.  We see God has given some clear points to look for and you well know the other verse about not being unequally yoked together with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14).  To do so...well, therein lies grief.

I believe most husbands wouldn't do similar to what Abraham did to Sarah.  He disowned her as his wife, not only once, but twice! (Genesis 12 and 20).   What a nasty trick to play on one's wife!  He did that to save his own neck!  Whatever happened to "looking after the interests of others"?  In this case should Sarah still have shown respect, reverence and submission to Abraham?  To make a long story short, Sarah still respected and submitted to Abraham and even called him, "Lord!" (KJV) or "master" (NIV)!

Any wives reading this?  God's Word says "you are Sarah's daughters if you do what is right" (vs 6).  It is interesting to observe here that Sarah's daughter would "not give way to fear". Meaning, I believe, a spirit of fear as opposed to our fear of God.  When you read the accounts in Genesis 12 and 20, the two times where Abraham asked Sarah to say she was only his sister, and she was taken into the king of the area's harem, she could have spilled the beans through fear of what could have happened to her in that setting.  She must have kept her head (and held her tongue) by submitting to Abraham's crazy, self-centered scheme and even had her own faith in God and what He could do to 'rescue' her.

Ephesians 5:22 qualifies submission to one's husband "as to the Lord".  If someone's husband asks them to do something illegal  should she submit and obey his requests?  This is where the "as to the Lord" phrase could be activated.  If she is pure and holy and fears the Lord and has her "hope in the Lord" (KJV), which is right, to obey man or God first?  (Acts 4:19).   This question was asked in Good Lives...Good Deeds; have a read & gain some help to clarify what action can be taken.

If the wife has been revering and respecting her husband all along, she may well be able to "win over" her husband by making an appeal to him that what he asks is not right in God's eyes.  Hope and pray he will not take a macho-ego guy stance but rather see God's perspective and good sense.

Husbands please be careful of what you ask your wives to do.  Abraham should have felt the repercussions of his own actions upon himself, instead the king and his subjects got the punishment.  Abraham had to pray for God to reverse the penalty (Genesis 20:17). 

Men.  Sons.  I'm not putting you down.  No doubt a pure, reverent, submissive woman who fears God, would marry a man who was her equal in these distinctions as well.  In fact, when you read verse 7 of 1 Peter 3, that same phrase "in the same way" is written in there by Peter for the husbands, as in verse 1 for the wives.  Submissive as Jesus was to His Father.

So as the husband submits to God and His ways in his life, he will be "considerate to his wife, and

treat her with respect".  Husbands, your treatment of your wife will shout out loud, to your sons,  the mode in which they will treat their mother, sisters, women-in-general, and eventually toward their own wife-of-the-future.  What a responsibility you all carry and with God's help you can do it.

In fact, stick up for your wife immediately and address your sons (&/or daughters) when they show disrespect to their mother, your wife.  This in turn will be "treating your wife with respect" even if indirectly.  You are the respect-setter.  Regard your wife as "weaker" NOT weak.  Stop telling jokes about this too.  This is another aspect of showing respect.  After all, when you pray, you wouldn't want your prayers to be hindered would you?

Overall, whether wife or husband, this relationship needs patient endurance and love.  Ask God who gives to all liberally if you feel a lack thereof especially of wisdom in these areas. (James 1:5).   May God bless your marriages as you submit and respect each other "as to the Lord".

                                                                ~ERC  2016~