The Hidden Person Of The Heart #10 ♡♡♡

 "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls" - 1 Peter 2: 22-25

" Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they maybe won over without words by the behavior of thier wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives" - 1 Peter 3:3

"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

If you don't like to hear the truth, please go past this post. If you do like the truth however, then please stay with me :) If you start out reading 1 Peter 3 randomly without any context to what the scripture is saying, you'd be out there thinking "not another submission message or not another love message" arghhh. If you do flip back to the end of the preceding chapter 1 Peter 2 however; and you are someone who understands truly the sacrifice of the cross, this should humble you greatly. God is not a task master. He never calls us out to do something He hasn't done himself. Everything God asks us to do, is not to wound us, but to heal us. It may not always feel or seem like that at first, but it is. "In the same way?" "likewise?" - these words are very important. In the same way what? likewise how? These words should cause us to pause in sober reflection. 

I celebrated 10 years, married to hubby over the weekend. It's a huge deal for me, because I know that it didn't happen because of anything special I had done. It's truly by the grace of God. It is God's word, his great counsel and his mercy that has brought us here really. And I am truly grateful for God's endless mercies. I avoid generally speaking about marriage, unless I am invited to those kind of conversations. The reason is because, in the course of my marriage, I started to realize that there was more to this "staying" and "being" together. Infact it is so much more than mere feelings and a couple of  "vows" thrown around. I think that we should believe the people who say that "marriage is not to make you happy, but to make you holy". Those are not cliché words at all, I promise you. 

I heard someone ask this one time, "where have you seen it mentioned in the bible that someone was happy because they got married?" I thought about that for a second. I mean, it doesn't also record anywhere that someone was sad because of it either. They were sad when they lost someone or when they couldn't have kids, when bad things happened etc. The point here is, on the topic of being married specifically, both were not as important enough to be mentioned I suppose. Every time a union was mentioned, it was more for a purpose. Marriage serves the purposes of God. At the very center of it, is to honor God. The idea is not to break you and tear you out into shreds. It is to challenge us to be more Christlike. Even you would like what you begin to see, if you can just persevere and take heed to the word of God. Marriage showcases, the beautiful relationship between Christ and the church. So the issue here really is that, we cannot do this on our own. We will be exhausted trying. I mean listen to what Paul says here :)

"Because of the present crisis, I think it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you pledged to a woman? Do not seek to be released. Are you free from such a commitment? Do not look for a wife? But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if  a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life and I want to spare you this" - 1 Corinthians 7: 26-28

Listen, I love the words of scripture. There is no deceiving you with anything. Everything kept real to a power of 100. I imagine that these words of apostle Paul, were born out of what he saw some of his married friends experience. Even the apostle [who never married] understood that marriage came with it's own challenges. So whilst there is the benefit of companionship, partnership, friendship and all "ship ship". Marriage comes with it's own responsibility. So really whether we are single or married, it's really about our commitment to God. And so if the goal is to be committed when single. The goal should be the same when married. What would keep us, is our unwavering commitment to God and not necessarily to that individual. This serves a much more higher purpose. I am going to end here with this scripture that challenges me everyday. This is my heart on the matter. I aspire to be right here and I hope that you do too, whatever your current status is; married or unmarried. We should support both sides on either journey. Both are dear to God. So in honor of my anniversary, please do take sometime this week, to pray for your married friends. Take sometime this week to pray for your single friends. Take sometime this week to pray for future marriages. All of these, serve the purposes of God. Thank you and God bless you as you do so.

"Do not let your adornment be merely outward - arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel - rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very  precious in the sight of God. For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to thier own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror" - 1 Peter 3:3-6

This scripture might sound very ancient, but it is alive, active and living. I love how it says that "in former times, the holy women who trusted in God adorned themselves in this way". Their submission was because of thier trust in God, not necessarily thier trust in thier husbands. We need to prayerfully consider this properly to catch God's vision, so we can enjoy all JOY that comes from letting God and becoming more Christlike. Perhaps instead of arguing it out, we can get on our knees and ask God to help us obey his word, either as a woman who is called to submit or as a man called to love, or even as a single person called to serve God, in the way that Christ did it.

Love,

SR