S) " 7 You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered."
1 Peter 3:7 (NASB)
O) I don't want to make a big deal out of the concept that women are weaker than men, spiritually speaking; however, I can only lead my wife (and children) so long as I am more spiritually mature. With that in mind, I need to honor her as a fellow heir of the grace of life. This means that I need to respect who she is in Christ on her own. The concept of honoring a person is very, very deep and goes into a lot of things, but because this verse left out details about what that looks like, I need to go with the most honor I can give her. If I don't want my prayers hindered, I need to honor her both directly and indirectly; I need to cover all of my bases. This shouldn't be incintive for me to treat my wife a certain way, but it is a stern reminder of negative consequences.
A) I need to honor my wife in how I treat her publicly and privately. I need to honor my wife with my own actions with her or without her. The details on how this looks can be long and difficult to define but I think this is the most simple way: when people think of me, they should be happy that I am married to Kristin. That's the easiest way to determine if I am honoring my wife. We should be careful of using the approval of the public to guide our actions, though. Maybe I should say it this way: I should be seeking to live my life, and influence my wife, in such a way that God will find no flaw in it. I need to respect her, respect her spiritual gifts, respect her needs, respect her space. With respect to the things of God, I need to treat her as I would any other spiritual sister (since we're both children of God).
P) Father, give me Your perspective with my wife. Show her to me as You see your daughter. Help me see all of the giftings You placed in her and help me nurture and respect those giftings. I want to do everything I can to help my wife bear your fruit, Lord. I don't want to hinder her in anyway. Give me wisdom, and show me how to lead Your people, my small kingdom, my family. Holy Spirit, lead me in this charge. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
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