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 – Scripture Of The Day (January 3, 2014)

Jack Nicholson’s famous line to Helen Hunt in As Good As It Gets comes to mind:  “You make me want to be a better man.”  Wives, you have no idea how true that can be when you are married to an imperfect man who has an honest and open heart (Luke 8:15) and you apply this passage to your relationship with him.  My wife is the best person I know and my best friend not because she is my wife, but because of what kind of wife she is.  Beth is one of the purest Christians I know, and that’s coming from someone who lives with her day in and day out and who is very aware of her sins and shortcomings.  Her kindness, compassion, empathy, and godliness is what makes her pure.  Over the ten years of our marriage, I have seen her grow both in purity and in the respect she shows to me and to others.  In the past she has told me that I have helped her be better in several ways.  While that may be true, her respectful and pure conduct shown in her goals to be a better Christian, a better wife, and a better mother are a continual example for me to try to attain the same goals as a Christian husband and father, and as a preacher.  Many times it is her example and my desire to be better for her which it produces that causes me to examine myself (2 Cor. 13:5) and have that godly sorrow over my own sins and shortcomings which produces repentance, which in turn leads to salvation (2 Cor. 7:9-11).  I guess in the end we help each other…and isn’t that what a marriage is supposed to be? Helping each other get to heaven?

Ladies, if you are married to a decent man and you want to do your part to help him overcome his weaknesses and grow closer to God, I encourage you to keep this passage in mind.  Submit to him as head of your home and treat him and everyone else with respect and purity rather than nag and berate him to death.  You’d be amazed at what a difference that can make!  God definitely knows what he’s talking about!

Beth, thank you for being the kind of wife and mother you are.  I love you very much, sweetheart…