Begin with two minutes of silence and stillness before God.
You know God has a sense of humor when my week of devotions include instructions on marriage. I can hear my wife laughing now. I will give it a shot though. Remember, grace is a virtue you should practice and now might be a good time.
We know Peter was married because Matthew describes Jesus healing his mother-in-law in Matthew 8:14-15. So, we hope he knows a thing or two about this. He gives some very sound advice to wives as it relates to outer beauty versus inner beauty he calls “the hidden person of the heart”. He goes on to describe this inner beauty as “precious in the sight of God”. I love the adjectives that Peter uses. The word “precious” recalls things of value; things you cherish; someone beloved. That is how God sees wives’ inner beauty. Peter also uses the word respectful. Did you know that in Ephesians when Paul is giving charge to husbands and wives, he does not instruct wives to love their husbands? He instructs them to respect them. In the King James Version, it actually says, “Wives, see to it, that you respect your husband”. You don’t even get the chance to say that because he is a dunderhead, I don’t respect him. The scripture says to find a way to respect him, and your very actions may be what turns him from his ignorance.
Husbands, don’t think you are getting off easy. Verse 7 instructs us to treat our wives as equals, honoring them lest our prayers be hindered. Did you catch that, guys? God is basically telling us that if you are not going to love and honor your wives, don’t bother coming to me. I’m not even going to hear your prayers. Wow. That is strong. And just to close the loop, in Ephesians, Paul does tell men to love their wives and be willing to give their lives up for them. Now I know men who would, without hesitation, lay down their lives for their wives. Most of us would lay down our life for someone else’s wife but that is not really the charge here. What Paul is asking men to do is to every day be willing to put their wives' needs above yours. Die to yourself each day. It's a little harder when you put it that way. But here is what I have figured out, I don’t need any hindrances to my prayer request to God. I need His full attention.
Peter ends this chapter as I mentioned previously, encouraging believers to refrain from responding as the world would respond when mistreated. We already know that the world is hostile toward believers and during this particular period of time, Peter knew what was coming for them. Let our response be an imitation of Jesus’s response when He, the just, gave Himself for the unjust. One of my former bosses taught me early in my career the difference and the advantages of responding to something versus reacting to something. He taught me to refrain from a quick and not well-thought-out reaction and to respond in a well-thought-out and often delayed manner. This has served me well over the years and allowed me NOT to say some things that I really wanted to say. Most of them are not-so-good things. Would have made me look just like my offender. Thank you, God, that you put good Godly men in my life to instruct me. God certainly knew I needed the help.
Today, allow the negative comments that come your way to just roll off. It will make you feel more like Jesus and after all, that is exactly what God is trying to do.
Take two minutes to reflect in silence.