PRAY ABOUT WHAT A GIVING AND GENTLE SPIRIT MEANS IN YOUR MARRIAGE

CURRENT RADIO SERIES Eternity Now   CURRENT TV SERIES Songs of Courage

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. --1 Peter 3:1-2 If you want to understand your mate and create a good, fulfilling marriage, you have to understand your responsibilities as a spouse. God planned the marriage to be an unconditional commitment with devotion and service to each other. With that come responsibilities for both the spouses. Let’s look at the wife’s responsibilities according to 1 Peter 3:1. There are two major responsibilities for the wife:   To have a giving spirit. “Likewise, you wives, be subject to your own husbands” (1 Peter 3:1). Now, for some, “subject” is an ugly word. But it means to rank under authority. All Christians are called to subject ourselves to God and to the body of Christ. And wives are instructed to do the same for their husbands. However, this doesn’t imply any inferiority. Jesus submitted Himself to His heavenly Father and we know that God and Christ are co-equal. It is simply a chain of command or responsibility. Wives are to give themselves voluntarily. Not by coercion or force, but out of love, devotion, and appreciation for God’s gift. When you give like that, you can’t help but gain!   Secondly, wives should have a gentle spirit.  “Do not let your adorning be external — the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear — but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (1 Peter 3:3-4). A gentle spirit does not mean that you’re a doormat, but it means serenity, the peacefulness of a quiet, gentle spirit. It refers to the cultivation of inner beauty in the character of Christ. Wives, Scripture says that if you have a giving and gentle spirit, your husbands will be won without a single word! Your godly life and the beauty of your testimony will reveal Christ to your husband. Pray about what a giving and gentle spirit means in your marriage.

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

The Mirror that Changes Our Reflection

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”

James 1:22–25

Most of us look at ourselves in the mirror on a regular basis. We have mirrors in our homes, our offices, and our cars. All of those mirrors show a reflection of what is in front of them. Sometimes we are pleased with what we see, and sometimes we realize that some kind of change needs to be made, but the mirror never makes those changes for us. In fact, if one of our mirrors tried to comb my hair or straighten my tie, I’m pretty sure I would head for the door.

But when James compared the Bible to a mirror, he noted that by looking into the Word of God and doing what it says, we will be changed in such a way that we will receive God’s blessing. The purpose of God for our lives is for us to become more and more like Jesus. “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). The means God has given to us to complete that process is His Word. Only as we fill our hearts and minds with the Scripture and meditate on it day and night will we walk as God wants us to walk.

Today’s Growth Principle: 

If you invest your time in the Bible and let it dwell in your heart, you will be transformed into Christ’s image.