I thought 'I want to be a Sarah' as I read the beginning of the third chapter of I Peter this morning. I don't want to have a child at an old age as she did but I do want to follow her example of how she loved her husband. Peter continues in verse four with direction for husbands to "Honor them, delight in them." As a wife, I need to show respect to my husband. I think of how my friends who have a non-believing husband struggle with the idea of showing respect to them. I pray for God to show them ways they might not have tried in the past. Matthew Henry writes:
There is nothing more powerful, next to the word of God, to win people, than a good conversation, and the careful discharge of relative duties. Irreligion and infidelity do not dissolve the bonds, nor dispense with the duties, of civil relations; the wife must discharge her duty to her own husband, though he obey not the word. He continues...A chaste conversation, attended with due and proper respect to every one, is an excellent means to win them to the faith of the gospel and obedience to the word.
I pray for Jesus to flow from their mouths so their husband can see Him in them. I pray that for myself. I want Doc to be uplifted by my words. I want him to know I support him not only through my actions but also through my words. In the beginning of this chapter there is direction given about beauty. Outward beauty is not what is important but instead it is "holy beauty" or inward beauty. If my soul is not taken care of, my husband will not be blessed. When Doc was ordained, Dr. Diehl prayed over me to have a "gentle and quiet spirit." I was teased afterward about that. But I do think the Lord has tamed my spirit down over the years. I would like to think I have the qualities Matthew Henry writes about...
Take care to adorn and beautify your souls rather than your bodies. The ornament prescribed. It must, in general, be something not corruptible, that beautifies the soul, that is, the graces and virtues of God’s Holy Spirit. The ornaments of the body are destroyed by the moth, and perish in the using; but the grace of God, the longer we wear it, the brighter and better it is. More especially, the finest ornament of Christian women is a meek and quiet spirit, a tractable easy temper of mind, void of passion, pride, and immoderate anger, discovering itself in a quiet obliging behaviour towards their husbands and families.
I like the idea that the longer we wear the grace of God, "the brighter and better it is." Woo hoo! Normally it doesn't get better in one's outward beauty as the gray hair comes on, the wrinkles start showing, etc. But when you think about what a lady who is living a life for Christ you see a glow about her instead of the wrinkles and gray hair. I desire for people to see His glow in me instead of the imperfections of my physical body. I think of how pregnant women have a glow about them. They have new life growing inside of them. When we have new life in us, we will glow too.
Today is a tough day for many with all of the celebration that happens around Valentine's Day. I pray for...
- ones who are lonely due to the death of their spouse
- ones who are hurting due to a separation or divorce
- ones who have been abused by their spouse and feeling unloved
- children who will go to school and hear what other children received from their parents while knowing they will receive nothing, not even love
- singles who have never had the true love of another
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for the time we took yesterday to enjoy lunch and a walk at the waterfront park. Thank You for my husband. I continue to trust in You with his physical issues. I pray for a timely response from the cardiologist for the stress test. Thank You for continuing to encourage him. Lord, adorn me with more of Your grace so I will glow with You. I pray for more of You to fill me to overflowing so You will ooze out of me. May Your words, actions and attitude ooze out of me today in a way people will know it is You. Thank You Jesus for being My Beauty Maker. Amen.
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