“Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands…” (1 Peter3:1).
“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner…” (1Peter 3:7)
Peter wrote his first letter to a church that faced some kind of hardship:
1Peter 1:6; 2:12; 4:12; and 5:10 allude to such hard times.
He wrote to encourage them to stand fast and live “well” – godly lives in a godless society. The encouragement stems not from the nice words Peter wrote but from the Spirit inspired truth regarding their status before God: They were “different” people: chosen, royal, holy – God’s very own people.
One aspect of living godly lives in society was submission to authority: be good citizens. We know that a society is formed by smaller units: the family unit. Our text for today paints the picture of a Christian family. Key words: submission, beauty, honour.
Peter presents “his” case for inner beauty in verses 3 to 6.
Christians are often compared to sheep among the wolves: in constant danger.
Some sources of danger for the Christian church are persecution/hardship; false teachings/ the world: Romans 12:2; 1John 1:15-17.
The case for the inner beauty is a call to resist the influence of the world in matters of beauty. How can a Christian woman resist the influence of the world, when it comes to beauty? Peter offers two ways:
-becoming aware of God’s definition of beauty. Asking God, “God, what makes me beautiful in Your eyes?
Here is the answer, “…the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit…” (v.4).
We detect such beauty in the story of Ruth “…where you go I will go…your people…your God…” (Ruth 1:16). We detect such beauty in the story of Mary “…let it be to me according to your word…” (Luke 1:38). We detect such beauty in the story of Sarah: she submitted to Abraham by calling him, “my lord…” (Genesis 12:8).