"Wives, be submissive to your own husbands …" (1 Peter 3:1).
As the husband is the head of the home, the role of the wife is to be submissive to his authority. Three passages specifically address the woman’s role: “… admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed” (Titus 2:4–5); “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord” (Eph. 5:22); and “… wives, be submissive to your own husbands” (1 Peter 3:1).
Notice how these Scriptures emphasize that women are to be submissive to their own husbands, not to men in general. God put the husband over the wife to protect her from the influences, manipulations, and allurements of other men. When she steps outside of her husband’s protective covering, a woman can easily fall prey to the entanglements of the world.
Commands such as these grate on the nerves of today’s culture like fingernails scraping a blackboard. A woman desires independence and self-reliance; to admit her need of a husband’s protection is to confess a weakness she would rather ignore or deny. This mentality has infiltrated the church to such a degree that women often possess greater authority in church leadership and administration than men do. Marriages continue to crumble, but a blind eye is turned to the biblical mandates on the roles of women and men. Unfortunately, many wives look outside the home for solutions to marital problems instead of evaluating whether their behavior reflects a truly submissive spirit. A woman who recognizes her husband’s headship and renounces any action on her part that attempts to usurp that authority, no matter how subtle is counted as a jewel.
Honor and submission flow from a love for the husband God has given and for Christ Himself. The Scriptures exhort wives to submit to their husbands as to the Lord. Do you question Christ? Do you try to manipulate Christ to get what you want? Of course not. Then neither should wives act this way toward their husbands; instead, they should love, honor, and obey them. Such obedience can turn even the hard heart of an unbelieving spouse to the Lord (1 Peter 3).
Read 1 Peter 3:1–6. How does God’s standard of beauty differ from what our culture tells us is beautiful? What does it mean to be a daughter of Sarah? Wife, how do you challenge your husband’s authority? Confess these sins to God and your husband. Husband, pray for a spirit of submission in your wife.
