Wednesday, October 29, 2014

I Peter 3:1-7 - Marriages

I Peter 3:1-7…

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. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 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, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.  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.

I am praying for a few different couples who are going through some tough times in their relationship.  I wish I could take them away from everyday life, take them to a secluded place where there are no stresses, get them talking to one another and most importantly get them to remember why they got married…what made them fall in love with one another to the point of getting married.  

These words in I Peter give the direction on what a marriage is suppose to look like.  Unfortunately, too many wives refuse to submit to their husbands because they see it as a weakness when in fact it is a strength.  It takes a strong woman to submit to their husband.  Another issue in a lot of marriages is that the husband doesn't show respect to the wife.  In a lot of situations that respect is not shown by the husband because the wife shows no respect to the husband.

Women who are strong in their personality are likely to be the dominant one in a relationship.  A lot of times the husband is happy for her to take care of things so he's OK with it.  But that's not the way the Lord designed marriage to be.  Frustration between a couple can become so great because of this.  Is it easy for a woman with a dominant personality to allow the husband be the head of the household?  Absolutely not.  But I can speak from experience that when the relationship is aligned with the way the Lord has designed it, blessings will come in abundance.  

My prayer requests today are..

  • the couple struggling with her being the head of the household
  • the couple struggling due to not communicating, not loving one another, not submitting to the Lord
  • the couple struggling due to health issues in one of them
  • the couple struggling with the man pretending he is a believer and that life is fine when it's all falling apart around them
  • the couple struggling with one of them being a believer and the other one not
  • the couples struggling with never having time for one another
  • the couples struggling with finances…to the point of thinking of bankruptcy
  • the couple struggling with the call from the Lord on one of their lives
  • for wives to see their worth in the Lord instead of in their outward beauty
  • for husbands who aren't the head of the household to take on the position of authority
Dear Jesus,
If people would only get to the end of themselves and totally surrender to You, a lot of these issues would be gone.  It has to not be "me" but "us"…it has to be thinking about what the other spouse wants instead of putting our own desires first.  The secrets couples are keeping from one another need revealed and resolved.  Father, I pray for these marriages to be restored and renewed.  I pray for the children involved to be protected from the hurt.  My heart is braking over these ones I love.  Thank You Jesus for my marriage.  Thank You for my husband, who is the head of our household.  I praise You for the day he took ownership of that in our relationship.  Thank You Jesus for being the One Who Blesses Us.  Amen.

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