Topic: WINNING A DISOBEDIENT HUSBAND
THEME SCRIPTURE:
1 Peter 3:1-2 (NKJV)
[1] Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, [2] when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.
MESSAGE:
Just like Apostle Paul did in Ephesians 5:22-33, Apostle Peter also addressed married couples in 1 Peter 3:1-7, by addressing wives before husbands. On a lighter note, it seems even Scripture agrees with the concept of “Ladies First.”
The Holy Spirit, through Apostle Peter, instructs wives to be submissive to their own husbands, just like He did, through Apostle Paul. But Apostle Peter throws more light on what it means for a wife to be submissive to her husband. He tells wives, that, even if some husbands do not obey the Word, without saying a word, they can win their husbands by their conduct.
Someone who doesn’t obey the Word is not necessarily an unbeliever. The Greek translation for the phrase, “do not obey the Word” is, “not to allow one’s self to be persuaded by the Word.” I call a husband who doesn’t obey the Word, “A disobedient husband.” These are husbands some wives will describe as “very difficult.” Call him stubborn, and you would be right! But as stubborn as some husbands may be, their wives are given the clue to use their conduct to win them.
What a husband cannot accommodate is harsh words from his wife. The more a wife exchanges words with her “stubborn husband”, the more hardened in heart the husband becomes. The wife may even use the Word of God to preach or to argue out her point, but remember, you’re dealing with a husband who doesn’t obey the Word. The Scriptural antidote is to win such a husband with your conduct. Apostle Peter says, the husbands will be won when they observe the chaste conduct of their wives accompanied by fear.
The word “chaste” is from a Greek word that is variously translated as, “exciting reverence”; venerable”; pure from every fault.” And the word “fear” is also from a Greek word which means, “reverence for one’s husband.”
In a nutshell, a wife can win a disobedient husband by her reverence for him, without necessarily preaching to him.
