June 12, 2019

HONORING OUR WIVES

1 Peter 3:7

Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

Personal challenge

This passage, and the one before it is often misunderstood and misused. Wives are told to submit to their husbands, and husbands are told to honor their wives. Here is what my Orthodox Study Bible says about this:

3:1-7 A stunning call to contentment in Christian marriage, whether we live in the first century or the twenty-first. The dignity and modesty of a woman—and her good conduct—have the power to call her husband to faith and devotion. Husbands are not to take advantage of this superior conduct on the part of their wives, but are to reciprocate, indeed to give honor. Peter's image of marriage is one of sacramental union, not merely of legal contract. Contrary to the inheritance customs of the time, husband and wife are heirs together of the grace of life (v. 7). Failure to live with understanding with one's spouse even affects one's relationship with God (see Eph 5:22–33).

We view marriage as a sacrament in the church because, through it, two people become one. Husbands and wives are peers and partners at the same time. This is the personal challenge, to always put my wife and her needs before mine and continually give her the honor she deserves. Glory be to God!