How should husbands live if they are members of God’s chosen people, and living stones in His spiritual temple-house? This is the question Peter turns to in 1 Peter 3v7: "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" (NIV)
The phrase "be considerate" sounds a bit tame. "Being considerate" is often viewed as a matter of a few nice manners. But Peter wants husbands to consider their wives and understand them. The ESV has Peter telling husbands to "live with your wives in an understanding way".
A husband's Biblical calling
A great deal of humour about the sexes is built on the idea that women are hard to understand. Biblically, they are. Women are connected with wisdom (e.g. Proverbs) and wisdom is not found with a few simple "how-tos" but with deep meditation and years of experience. Husbands are not allowed to laugh and say "Women are mysterious"; husbands are to seek to understand their wives.
Wives according to 1 Peter: Models to the church
There’s a certain irony that it has recently been International Women’s Day, and I am writing about 1 Peter 3v1-6, …