1 Peter 3:1-6
In the Roman Empire, the man had pretty much total authority over his wife and children. This could in some cases cause problems if the wife became a believer and the husband did not. Peter is telling these wives to accept the authority of their husbands and not to demand their rights as free women in Christ. He is encouraging them to win over their husbands, if possible, by their pure and reverent behavior. I believe this principle is true even today particularly in families. We normally do not encourage anyone to follow Christ by force or argument. Rather, we try to live right before them, praying that the Holy Spirit will do His work.
Peter further instructs the women to be more concerned about inward beauty than outward. This does not mean that it's particularly spiritual to be frumpy, dumpy, or dowdy! God surely wants us to take care of ourselves and our bodies--improving the quality of our lives here on earth. And new clothes or shoes now and then is a blessing! It just means that our primary concern should be on our inner selves and our spiritual lives. We've all known "beautiful people" who were nasty and mean-spirited, and by contrast, we've known truly lovely people who may be rather plain in appearance.
When the matter of submission to authority becomes hard, it's good to remember that Jesus was the primary example of this, submitting to the Father even unto death.
Psalm 2
World leaders often think more highly of themselves than they ought to! Even in our own country we see men and women who are pretty self-important. God warns them and us in Psalm 2 that He is in charge. He can "break them with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots." v. 9 God warns them and us to "serve the Lord with reverent fear, and rejoice with trembling. Submit to God's royal son...what joy for all who take refuge in him!" vv. 10-12
No comments:
Post a Comment