Husbands and Wives

Living in Covenant

A Personal Perspective

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

A Mother-Daughter Covenant

1 Peter 3:1-12 The Message (MSG)

Cultivate Inner Beauty

3 1-4 The same goes for you, wives: Be good wives to your husbands, responsive to their needs. There are husbands who, indifferent as they are to any words about God, will be captivated by your life of holy beauty. What matters is not your outer appearance—the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes—but your inner disposition.
4-6 Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in. The holy women of old were beautiful before God that way,and were good, loyal wives to their husbands. Sarah, for instance, taking care of Abraham, would address him as “my dear husband.” You’ll be true daughters of Sarah if you do the same, unanxious and unintimidated.
7 The same goes for you, husbands: Be good husbands to your wives. Honor them, delight in them. As women, they lack some of your advantages. But in the new life of God’s grace, you’re equals. Treat your wives, then, as equals so your prayers don’t run aground.

Suffering for Doing Good

8-12 Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.
Whoever wants to embrace life
    and see the day fill up with good,
Here’s what you do:
    Say nothing evil or hurtful;
Snub evil and cultivate good;
    run after peace for all you’re worth.
God looks on all this with approval,
    listening and responding well to what he’s asked;
But he turns his back
    on those who do evil things.

For Reflection

Marriage is a covenant between spouses that is sanctified by God. It is a life of mutual care, and suffering. It is a union where each sacrifices for the other and that when cultivated is an expression of love and beauty. Not all interactions will be smooth. However, when one encounters difficulties, one wise to follow the advice of Peter.

Pray

Pray together, often and long, so that you have the skill to reap the joy and blessings of a lifetime commitment to your partner.


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