TEXT
“Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered” (1 Peter 3:7 NKJV).
INTRODUCTION
God, in His infinite wisdom, made men and women different. These differences are in accordance with our roles and duties, and in marriage, they complement each other. The glory of men is their strength. But this strength must be wielded rightly if you desire to glorify God and love your wife, as the Lord commands.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
After exhorting wives regarding their role in marriage and duty toward their husbands, the Apostle Peter turns his attention to husbands. He calls them to dwell with their wives with understanding – meaning a husband is to know his wife and be considerate of her. One way a husband demonstrates that he is endeavoring to do this is by giving her honor, respecting her as the weaker vessel but also as co-heir of the grace of life. The warning for husbands is that if they do not love and honor their wives, the Lord will not honor them and shut His ears to their prayers.
HOW HUSBANDS FAIL
There are two ways husbands fail in their duties toward their wives. The first is to be strong in a way that is selfish and has no benefit for your wife. The second is to be simply weak, allowing your wife’s weakness (both pure and sinful) to dominate the home. Both of these are an abdication of your God-given role as head and a failure of leadership.
JUST AS CHRIST LOVED THE CHURCH
But Christ shows men a better way. He demonstrated how husbands can both be strong and kind. How a husband can use his God-given strength to enter into his wife’s weakness with both compassion and truth.
CONCLUSION: “HOLY FRIENDSHIP”
John Calvin called marriage a “holy friendship.”
The German reformer Johannas Oecolampadius wrote, “…the woman was drawn out from the side of Adam, not from a higher part lest she be deemed more worthy, not from a lower part lest she be able to be regarded as worth less, but from the side so that she would be at his side and so be his helper.”
Your great duty in this life is to lead your wife and your family before the Lord. In this, you are to imitate your Head, Christ, entering into your wife’s struggles and laying down your life. When a husband truly leads and loves his wife, and when a wife honors and submits to her husband with full trust—there is an immense blessing and joy that fills your cup, and overflows to your children, your children’s children, and to the world.