For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
1 Peter 3:5-7

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Confession: I didn’t want to write today’s devotion as much as you’ll want to read it. What Jesus’ disciple Peter speaks about regarding men, women, and marriage was and still is a tender topic. We could skip unsettling verses in favor of less touchy scriptures, but that only perpetuates the problems we face. Instead of burying our heads, let’s open our hearts and discover what truths God’s Word has for us about personhood.

The other day my wife called and asked me to help her out. We wanted to replace the large area rug in our living room, and she found the perfect one on Facebook Marketplace. Funny enough, it turned out that the seller is our sister-in-law! My wife and I headed over to pay for and pick up the rug because she knew it was too big for her to get into our car on her own. Makes sense, right? So, what does this have to do with today’s passage?

We tend to read our personal experience and cultural reality into 1 Peter 3:5-7 instead of the other way around. We can get tripped up (and potentially even ticked off!) by the verses communicating wives submit to husbands (v. 5-6) and calling wives the weaker partner (v. 7). My wife and I hate that passages like this get manipulated today to support all kinds of untrue teachings about personhood and marriage. The essence of what’s being taught is that both men and women are saved by God’s grace, and both are to treat each other with mutual respect, submission, and consideration. Neither a husband nor a wife has permission to hold power over the other. An air of superiority—physical, emotional, intellectual, moral, spiritual, relational, or otherwise—has no place between equals created by God. Misreading is misleading, so it’s important that we take time to study what was originally said and why. Now back to our new-to-us living room rug.

It doesn’t bother my wife that she’s less physically strong than me for some tasks, but I also don’t poke fun at her for being “weaker.” There are plenty of areas where she’s way stronger than I am! When it came time to move the rug into our car, my sister-in-law and I muscled-up to get the job done. But then, to our surprise, my wife and I did the same back home.

Why does this everyday example matter to you and me? No drama. No disrespect. No power struggles. No gender divisiveness. We each did our part as fellow persons, not men and women in competition or contention. While not every situation—at home, at work, at school, at church, or otherwise—plays out this simply, God’s word still has much to teach us about mutual love and respect between persons regardless of manhood or womanhood.

Next Steps

Marital status aside, how does today’s passage challenge you to be more mutually respectful, submissive, and considerate toward anyone God places in your life?