1Pe 3:7 | KingComments | STEP | . After the teaching for the wives, now follows the teaching for the husbands. Also this teaching starts with “in the same way” ( ), for also the husband ought to be submissive. It applies to him that he ought to be submissive to the institution of marriage and ought to take his place therein that is in accordance to God’s thoughts. The husband has to “live … in an understanding way” with his wife. The word ‘live’ means all his dealings with her and not only the sexual contact. In his dealings with her he should not be guided by his passions, but by the insight he has in her person. Therefore he has to gain ‘understanding of’ her. He must be willing to invest in her, doing his best to understand her. It is a well-known and at the same time shameful fact that husbands often have more insight in technical matters than in their wives. That’s also due to their selfishness. Husbands think that wives are like themselves and have a poor ability to empathize with the emotions of their wives. The wife is “someone weaker” or “a weaker vessel”. By ‘vessel’ is meant ‘body’ ( ; ). The wife is weaker in physical and emotional sense, but not in spiritual sense. Think of a woman like Deborah who led an army. The point here is that she is weaker of the body and the emotions that are related to it. Husbands should be aware of the fact that a woman is different therein and that’s what should determine their attitude toward them. It is not supposed to give them a feeling of superiority that makes them arrogantly look down on their wife. No, the husband has to understand that she has got a lot that he is missing and therefore he should show her honor. An extra reason to show her honor and not to treat her as an inferior, is the fact that together with him she is “a fellow heir of the grace of life”. She also received part of life by grace. This life will be fully lived in the millennial kingdom of peace, which is the inheritance. God makes no difference between men and women in the share He gives each of His own in the inheritance. Husbands often behave themselves as rulers and forget that they are head. They also forget that ruling is still to come and that then also the wives will rule. If women have served the Lord more faithfully, they will receive a greater part in ruling. The husband should look at his wife as God sees her. The “prayers”, that is the contact with God, will be “hindered” if the husband does not treat his wife well. The husband’s disparagement of the wife will negatively affect the prayer life. Then the prayer will have no power or it will be totally ignored. That is a serious situation. It is God’s purpose that husband and wife serve the Lord together, being occupied with His work, in which each of them personally has a part. In a sound marriage they will talk together about it and pray for it. That will prevent them from living apart from each other. The common prayer of husband and wife is therefore of great importance. . With the words “to sum up”, after the servants ( ) and the marriage partners ( ), the last group is addressed. It concerns “all of you”, which is the company of all believers. It goes without saying that also the previous groups belong to those. All are addressed on their conduct, on how they interact and approach each other. The most important thing is that they are “harmonious” or “of one mind”. The believers live in a hostile world. The enemy is seeking to drive believers apart. The only way to be armed against that, is to be of one mind, which means that they all have the same goal and that is to glorify Christ. If the believers are focused on the Lord Jesus and continually seek His interests in their dealings with each other, the enemy will have no chance to succeed to cause division. On the contrary, in this way they will gain victories over the enemy. Their mind will make them “sympathetic” with believers who are suffering and also with people who are lost. To sympathize with others is to have compassion with those who are in need and trying to be of support for them. That especially applies with regard to fellow believers. We ought to love them with “brotherly” love. It is a true joy to belong, in the midst of a hostile world where blind hatred and cold feelings determine the climate, to a companionship where love abundantly determines the atmosphere. When believers meet one another at meetings or at their homes, they should have the same experience as one has when he is freezing outside, enters a room where the warmth overwhelms him like a blanket. This is the experience an unbeliever also should have when he comes into contact with a believer. The companionship of believers ought to radiate ‘kindheartedness’ to anyone who is there. It is the opposite of an attitude that frightens and repels. It is a conduct that others feel attracted to and feel accepted. That conduct does not fit with arrogance that makes the other person feel to be given a favor. No, kindheartedness goes hand in hand with ‘humbleness in spirit’, for a believer knows that he himself is an object of the kindheartedness of God and the Lord Jesus. Everything that is asked here of the believers is perfectly seen in the life of the Lord Jesus. . He also did not return “evil for evil” or “insult for insult”. His response to every evil that was done to Him and all the words by which people insulted Him, was blessing. If you want to be like Him, ask Him to enable you to respond as He did. An extra exhortation to be like Him in this view, is that you may know that you “were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing”. You also did not partake of that in your past. Now you do. Do you also grant others to partake of that? The Lord granted it for you. Then you must follow Him in this view and wish for other people that they will also partake of the blessing of the millennial kingdom of peace, for that is the meaning of inheriting the blessing. . The blessing of the kingdom of peace is not only something that we will enjoy in the future. It is now already possible to enjoy the true life and to see good days. Who wouldn’t want that? Even the unbelievers want that. You can hear that wish in the salutation that we as people use by saying ‘good day’ to one another. To truly have good days according to the rich content that is meant here and by which it is only possible, Peter quotes a few verses from Psalms 34 ( ). Do you want “to love and see good days”, then it is necessary that you do not use your mouth for speaking evil and deceitful things. That is quite something, isn’t it? In any case, it excludes that a man who has no new life, can ever enjoy true life and see good days. Only those who have that new life, that is the life of God, can bring that into practice. If you remain close to the Lord, you are able to fulfill that. . Also the other conditions in this section are important. They consist of something negative and of something positive. The negative thing is that you must turn away from evil and the positive thing is that you do good. You see that the negative thing is followed by the positive thing. Your life is not meant to be characterized by everything that you do not do, but that it is marked by doing what is good. Then you read about what the good consists of. The point is that you seek peace intensively. You must pursue it; therefore you must fully commit yourself to do it. Peace is not only the absence of war. It is the inward rest as a result of the fellowship with God in going His way, with the confidence that He takes care of what is needed and protects against dangers. This peace is constantly under pressure, for circumstances can take away that peace from you. That’s why you are to pursue it. . To encourage you in this, the quote continues with focusing on the Lord. You may know that His eyes are always on you. He sees that you desire to enjoy what He gives to you. He also knows that there are forces and powers that threaten you and that they are much stronger than you are. If you are also aware of that, you will call on Him for help. You may know that His ears are open to your prayers. He hears you and defends you against those who seek to harm you. Now read 1 Peter 3:7-12 again. Reflection: How can you be a blessing to your environment?

‏ 1 Peter 3:7

Husbands – All of You

1Pet 3:7. After the teaching for the wives, now follows the teaching for the husbands. Also this teaching starts with “in the same way” (1Pet 3:1), for also the husband ought to be submissive. It applies to him that he ought to be submissive to the institution of marriage and ought to take his place therein that is in accordance to God’s thoughts.

The husband has to “live … in an understanding way” with his wife. The word ‘live’ means all his dealings with her and not only the sexual contact. In his dealings with her he should not be guided by his passions, but by the insight he has in her person. Therefore he has to gain ‘understanding of’ her. He must be willing to invest in her, doing his best to understand her.

It is a well-known and at the same time shameful fact that husbands often have more insight in technical matters than in their wives. That’s also due to their selfishness. Husbands think that wives are like themselves and have a poor ability to empathize with the emotions of their wives.

The wife is “someone weaker” or “a weaker vessel”. By ‘vessel’ is meant ‘body’ (2Cor 4:7; 1Thes 4:4). The wife is weaker in physical and emotional sense, but not in spiritual sense. Think of a woman like Deborah who led an army. The point here is that she is weaker of the body and the emotions that are related to it. Husbands should be aware of the fact that a woman is different therein and that’s what should determine their attitude toward them. It is not supposed to give them a feeling of superiority that makes them arrogantly look down on their wife. No, the husband has to understand that she has got a lot that he is missing and therefore he should show her honor.

An extra reason to show her honor and not to treat her as an inferior, is the fact that together with him she is “a fellow heir of the grace of life”. She also received part of life by grace. This life will be fully lived in the millennial kingdom of peace, which is the inheritance. God makes no difference between men and women in the share He gives each of His own in the inheritance.

Husbands often behave themselves as rulers and forget that they are head. They also forget that ruling is still to come and that then also the wives will rule. If women have served the Lord more faithfully, they will receive a greater part in ruling. The husband should look at his wife as God sees her.

The “prayers”, that is the contact with God, will be “hindered” if the husband does not treat his wife well. The husband’s disparagement of the wife will negatively affect the prayer life. Then the prayer will have no power or it will be totally ignored. That is a serious situation. It is God’s purpose that husband and wife serve the Lord together, being occupied with His work, in which each of them personally has a part. In a sound marriage they will talk together about it and pray for it. That will prevent them from living apart from each other. The common prayer of husband and wife is therefore of great importance.

1Pet 3:8. With the words “to sum up”, after the servants (1Pet 2:18) and the marriage partners (1Pet 3:1-7), the last group is addressed. It concerns “all of you”, which is the company of all believers. It goes without saying that also the previous groups belong to those. All are addressed on their conduct, on how they interact and approach each other.

The most important thing is that they are “harmonious” or “of one mind”. The believers live in a hostile world. The enemy is seeking to drive believers apart. The only way to be armed against that, is to be of one mind, which means that they all have the same goal and that is to glorify Christ. If the believers are focused on the Lord Jesus and continually seek His interests in their dealings with each other, the enemy will have no chance to succeed to cause division. On the contrary, in this way they will gain victories over the enemy.

Their mind will make them “sympathetic” with believers who are suffering and also with people who are lost. To sympathize with others is to have compassion with those who are in need and trying to be of support for them. That especially applies with regard to fellow believers. We ought to love them with “brotherly” love. It is a true joy to belong, in the midst of a hostile world where blind hatred and cold feelings determine the climate, to a companionship where love abundantly determines the atmosphere.

When believers meet one another at meetings or at their homes, they should have the same experience as one has when he is freezing outside, enters a room where the warmth overwhelms him like a blanket. This is the experience an unbeliever also should have when he comes into contact with a believer.

The companionship of believers ought to radiate ‘kindheartedness’ to anyone who is there. It is the opposite of an attitude that frightens and repels. It is a conduct that others feel attracted to and feel accepted.

That conduct does not fit with arrogance that makes the other person feel to be given a favor. No, kindheartedness goes hand in hand with ‘humbleness in spirit’, for a believer knows that he himself is an object of the kindheartedness of God and the Lord Jesus. Everything that is asked here of the believers is perfectly seen in the life of the Lord Jesus.

1Pet 3:9. He also did not return “evil for evil” or “insult for insult”. His response to every evil that was done to Him and all the words by which people insulted Him, was blessing. If you want to be like Him, ask Him to enable you to respond as He did.

An extra exhortation to be like Him in this view, is that you may know that you “were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing”. You also did not partake of that in your past. Now you do. Do you also grant others to partake of that? The Lord granted it for you. Then you must follow Him in this view and wish for other people that they will also partake of the blessing of the millennial kingdom of peace, for that is the meaning of inheriting the blessing.

1Pet 3:10. The blessing of the kingdom of peace is not only something that we will enjoy in the future. It is now already possible to enjoy the true life and to see good days. Who wouldn’t want that? Even the unbelievers want that. You can hear that wish in the salutation that we as people use by saying ‘good day’ to one another. To truly have good days according to the rich content that is meant here and by which it is only possible, Peter quotes a few verses from Psalms 34 (Psa 34:13-17).

Do you want “to love and see good days”, then it is necessary that you do not use your mouth for speaking evil and deceitful things. That is quite something, isn’t it? In any case, it excludes that a man who has no new life, can ever enjoy true life and see good days. Only those who have that new life, that is the life of God, can bring that into practice. If you remain close to the Lord, you are able to fulfill that.

1Pet 3:11. Also the other conditions in this section are important. They consist of something negative and of something positive. The negative thing is that you must turn away from evil and the positive thing is that you do good. You see that the negative thing is followed by the positive thing. Your life is not meant to be characterized by everything that you do not do, but that it is marked by doing what is good.

Then you read about what the good consists of. The point is that you seek peace intensively. You must pursue it; therefore you must fully commit yourself to do it. Peace is not only the absence of war. It is the inward rest as a result of the fellowship with God in going His way, with the confidence that He takes care of what is needed and protects against dangers. This peace is constantly under pressure, for circumstances can take away that peace from you. That’s why you are to pursue it.

1Pet 3:12. To encourage you in this, the quote continues with focusing on the Lord. You may know that His eyes are always on you. He sees that you desire to enjoy what He gives to you. He also knows that there are forces and powers that threaten you and that they are much stronger than you are. If you are also aware of that, you will call on Him for help. You may know that His ears are open to your prayers. He hears you and defends you against those who seek to harm you.

Now read 1 Peter 3:7-12 again.

Reflection: How can you be a blessing to your environment?