Sunny Thoughts From Sunset – September 1
The Sunset pastor continued our series, “First Peter—Trials, Pilgrimage, Courage and Hope” with a message, “Marriage God’s Way.” The text was from 1 Peter 3:1-7: The wife’s beauty should be the “unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit,” and her husband should “be considerate [and] respectful” of his wife.
God instituted marriage for the purpose of creating a healthy and balanced environment where the human race could be propagated and nurtured to maturity.
Now there are several modern challenges that our culture without God is promoting that God takes issue with. I’ll mention three:
(a) There are not many genders but only two—Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in his own image… male and female he created them.” When folks do not believe in God’s design, then we may tinker with God’s creation—to our detriment.
(b) There are no God-ordained transgenders, that is, movement from one gender to another. God made us male or female, and he doesn’t change us after the fact. We can take hormones and have surgery, but in so doing we create ourselves in our own image, not God’s.
Sometimes parents are confused about how to respond when our little ones want to dress and act like the opposite gender. We should explain who they are, and that God made us that way.
(c) There are no God-ordained same-sex marriages. Two persons of the same gender may have a social, business or fraternal relationship, but not a marriage relationship because the distinctive characteristic of marriage is sexual intimacy. God did not make two persons of the same gender for that purpose. They don’t fit, and it is a dead-end. No child will be born. For two persons of the same gender to say they’re married is to pervert God’s will and design for marriage.
The pastor made four points: (1) Heirs together; (2) Winning without Words; (3) Unfading Beauty; (4) Being Considerate and Respectful.
(1) Heirs Together. Peter refers to the husband and wife as, v6, “heirs together of the gracious gift of life.” Peter’s teaching is that a marriage is a “together” partnership. We walk, work, live and love together.
(2) Winning without Words. The wife may be a believer, and her husband a pagan. The wife does not surrender her faith to her husband’s faith. She is not to submit in that way. But, “without words,” her husband may be won over to her faith.
Why “without words”? Because men are resistant to being told what to do. “A quarrelsome wife [Solomon said] is like a leaky roof on a rainy day—drip, drip, drip.” A Christian wife will do much better without words, by her good spirit. What does that look like? Peter continues:
(3) Unfading Beauty. It is not outward adornment that is the wife’s primary beauty. Plenty of gorgeous models have troublesome character traits—jealousy, envy, constant quarreling—you wouldn’t want to live with.
Peter says, (v4) “the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight” is an unsurpassed blessing in a house. Men love quietness, peace and respect, and when his wife gives that to him, it only increases his love for her. If she’s loud, boisterous and critical, it’s a trial.
(4) Being Considerate and Respectful. The husband is to (v7) “be considerate and treat [his] wife with respect.” Women need to feel secure and nested. So think about how to fulfil your wife’s needs. Here are four suggestions:
(a) If you’re married, act like it. Say hello and good morning; communicate.
(b) Do something together regularly (it need not be expensive): sit on the porch together with a nice drink; go to a movie; go for an ice cream cone.
(c) Decide to have fun—and not be critical at the same time;
(d) Go to church and worship God together.
We had a great All-Church Birthday Party last week. All who came were blessed!
“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” [Psalm 90:14]
May you be satisfied with the good Lord in the morning of your life, and all your days—our prayer for you from your friends at Sunset Christian Church.