Our devotion today deals with one of the most misunderstood commands of scripture. It deals with women being submissive to their own husbands. It is our pride, which the Bible states as sin, that causes us to bristle when we hear the word submit. Let me tell you what biblical submission is not before we get into the text.
It is not cowering down to a tyrant! Even though there are other passages that teach wives should submit to their husbands, this passage is dealing with wives who have unsaved husbands. So, this does not mean you should steer away from trying to influence your husband to follow Christ. It does not mean you don’t have a brain to think. God gave you the ability to think and you should use it. It also does not mean that his will, should come above God’s will. You are never to disobey God no matter what your husband says. That would violate other scripture and God’s word never contradicts itself. Society has led us to believe that being submissive is a dirty word. That we are to be totally independent of anyone having any controlling factor in our lives. If you follow that thought you will never give your heart to God.
So, what does this passage teach me? We need to look at the context of it. Peter starts with “likewise.” This is referring back to different calls for submission for all Christians. In Ephesians 5:21, Christians are to submit to one another. In Hebrews 13:17, we are to submit to spiritual leaders, primarily pastors who are seeking to teach us and lead us into a better relationship with Christ. In I Peter 2:13, we are to submit to the laws of the land and those who have the authority to enforce them. In I Peter 5:5, the younger is to submit to the elder. In Ephesians 5:22 and Colossians 3:18, we are back to the original subject. Both passages deal with the wives submitting to their husbands. Now, on to the original question, what is biblical submission of a wife to her husband?
I Peter 3:1-5 “Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:”
Wives here are to be submissive to their own husbands and in this case, they are unsaved. The directive here is that they will be won by the conduct of the wife. If the wife honors him and lives a holy life in front of him, it will have a positive effect on him. She is to have pure or chaste behavior, living in fear of the Lord. She must show by her actions that Christ is real to her and worth following. She may be beautiful on the outside, but her real beauty is her inward beauty. She is not consumed with her own outward beauty. She exhibits a meek and quiet spirit. The Greek word for meek is very closely related to the word humble. Humility is seeing oneself as lowly, and meekness is the way one relates to God or others, that grows out of a humble disposition.
In verse 5, we see a woman who has deep spiritual roots. Her hope is in God. A Christian woman does not put her hope in her husband. It is not in her looks or the things that she possesses. She puts her hope in the promises of God. It is her confidence that allows her to submit, based on her trust in God. If God commands something of us, He will not let us down when we obey. She is not afraid of the future because she knows who holds the future. She is clothed in strength and honor and her faith in God keeps her believing and honoring her husband. She trusts God’s word completely and knows she will rejoice in due time.
Proverbs 31:25 “Strength and honor are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.”
To submit this way requires a deep relationship with God. When the husband is unsaved and the wife is saved you have two different views of everything. However, God’s word is true and we are to obey. I have friends who prayed for over 30 years for their husbands to be saved. Was this a wearisome task, were there days of discouragement, the answer is yes. However, when thinking of the eternal soul of a loved one, you can’t give up and this thought pushed these women to continue to persevere in their faith. They prayed and acted out their faith in obedience and God convicted their husbands. Now, they have a beautiful godly marriage and a home filled with the love of God and hope for all eternity.
Submission may be a bad concept in our society, but it is a beautiful thing to God. Never allow the reasoning of man to override the wisdom of God.
