Being a Good Wife--God's Way

The title of today's message is, Being a Good Wife, God's Way. Being a Good Wife, God's Way. So this will be a word to the wives. And I invite you to open your Bibles once again, and let's open together to 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 1. Now, there are many words in Scripture that are directed to women in their role as wives. And here in 1 Peter 3, we find one such section in which Peter is going to address.

So it is a word to the wives, those that are currently wives today. This will also be a word to those who may be a wife in the near future. It also may be a word to those who are in the care of young girls, who sometime in the future will be preparing for that role. It is also a message for us men, husbands, to know the absolute challenge and high calling that our women are called to by God into this role. So, 1 Peter chapter 3, and we'll read verses 1 through 6 in this word to the wives to establish our study today. 1 Peter 3 verse 1. Peter writes, Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some of you do not obey the word, that's speaking of the husbands, they without a word may be won by the conduct of their wives.

When they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear, do not let your adornment be merely outward, arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel. Rather, let it be hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. For in this manner in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror. So let's stop there. So again, here we have Peter addressing the issue of being a wife, and we could say the issue of being a wife God's way. Does God have a particular way for a wife to be? Well, I think we could say that Scripture does give an unreserved yes to that question. Now, husbands aren't exempt from the mandate of Scripture, but we don't actually come to the husbands until verse 7, you'll notice. And as I began this study, like I mentioned, I thought that maybe I could have one message with the first part being the husbands, or the first part being the wives, whichever, and the second part being the other. But I quickly realized that Scripture is just so rich with regards to its instruction for the wives' role and for the husbands' role. I thought it might be best to break it up into two different messages. So we'll follow, as Peter did here, going with the wives first. Ladies first, if you will, as the saying goes. And then we'll get to the husbands' two Sabbaths from today. Now, for the wives especially who are prepared to believe and to act in light of these first six verses of 1 Peter 3, the wife who lives this out or seeks to do so will no doubt be confronted with an unfavorable reaction by her peers. Some peers in the church, and very, very often the peers outside the church environment. Peers who maybe regard themselves as incredibly enlightened.

Peers who regard themselves as maybe incredibly progressive. Very 21st century ladies, if you will.

Those ladies will no doubt confront this whole notion here that Peter is putting forth. And so the great challenge is on the woman who is prepared to vow and adhere to this Scripture, as in their role of the wife. And I frankly believe that she may cause less of a fuss, the wife may cause less of a fuss, by dressing up as a Viking and going to the grocery store. Then she would by bearing testimony to Peter's words here at her neighborhood gathering.

I put it to you ladies, try this test. If you're invited to go for coffee to the neighborhood ladies, and you're going to go to the grocery store, first dress up in the most bizarre clothing you can find and go to the grocery store, then change into normal clothing and go to your neighborhood ladies meeting and suggest that you're committed to being submissive to your husband.

And then assess which gets the greater response. I put it to you that the reaction to the odd Viking in a grocery store will be nothing compared to the reaction of the wife, who has apparently taken leave of her senses by paying attention to the instruction in an ancient book about the role of a wife. Now, I hope that significantly sets up what I believe is the dynamic impact of these six verses here. Because as we go through this, I want you to just see how radical these words are to the 21st century mind.

Now, Peter begins with the principle you'll notice of submission. You'll notice that in verse 1 of chapter 3, submission, and this is actually linked to the previous teaching on submission. How do we know that? Well, Peter employs the phrase likewise, you noticed, where verse 1, wives likewise. Likewise what? Well, likewise what's gone before in his instruction, and specifically chapter 2. If you look back to chapter 2 briefly here, chapter 2 and specifically verse 13, you will see the different places in which Peter establishes the necessity of submission here.

In chapter 2 verse 13, he establishes the necessity of submission in relation to civil government. Again, chapter 2 verse 13, therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme or to governors and so on. And then Peter establishes submission in the realm of employment. That's verse 18, servants to their master. Chapter 2 verse 18, servants be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. And then Peter provides the foundational basis of all of this in the example of Jesus Christ, and he does so in verse 21.

For to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps. And then so with this submission principle at the top of the reader's mind, he then turns and addresses the family unit.

That's chapter 3 verse 1, where we read again, chapter 3 verse 1, wives likewise be submissive to your own husbands. So in other words, Peter by beginning this way is saying if the family unit is going to work in the way God intended, then the same principle and the same pattern of submission needs to be in place.

So in the same way Christ displayed a submissive spirit in his sacrifice. In the same way in employment situations, servants within their daily routine commits themselves to their employer. In the same way in relation to civil government, we adhere to certain submissive responsibilities. Likewise then, in the same way, wives within the home display a submissive spirit. So he's addressing this whole matter to the wives and he begins with the principle of submission. Now when you come to something like this, we don't want to be careless. We don't want to simply focus in on just one set of scriptures. It's important to always ask whenever we're reading the Bible, no matter what the topic is, is this out of context?

Or perhaps is this just one word in the midst of the Bible that's not supported elsewhere? Is this in accord with the rest of Scripture? What we find when we search Scripture is the answer is yes. It is in accord with the rest of Scripture. And one of the most profound words in Scripture with regards to the wife's submission is found in Ephesians 5. So I want to turn there now. Ephesians 5, if you'll turn with me, we also see submission of the wife to the husband is established. And I want to hone in on a few verses here.

Ephesians 5, specifically verses 22 through 24 here. Ephesians 5, verse 22 through 24. What we'll see is Paul also addresses this. And it's very interesting how Paul views this subject of the submissive wife. Because what we're going to find is he looks at this whole subject of the submissive wife and he summarizes it all and he says, this is a great mystery, he says. He refers to it all as a great mystery.

It's a great mystery surrounding this aspect of submission in the wife's role. But Paul wants to give clarity to us of this. So he explains it this way. Paul says Ephesians 5, verse 22, wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands and everything. Now skipping down to verse 31 and 32. Verse 31 and 32.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. Verse 32. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. So stop there. So if you've attended any wedding, you've heard these words read, this passage read, and maybe you've made a mental note to think, I wonder what the fullness of that means.

We've heard it in passing. Maybe we've never understood this great mystery in which Paul is putting forth here. The fact that a man and woman are joined and become one flesh, and how then they move within that family unit and that unity together, it's a great mystery, profound mystery. So what's the clarity of it? Verse 32. Regarding this union of a man and a woman, verse 32, this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. I'm talking about Christ and the church.

So he spells out this mystery by telling us that the mystery is that this union of man and woman is directly related to Christ and the church. So what's the mystery? What's the mystery?

First, I believe the mystery is Christ's initiative in loving the church and giving his life for the church. That's first. That's a great mystery. Christ's initiative in loving the church and giving his life for the church. But then the second part of the mystery is the mystery of the church's response to Christ's love. The mystery of the bride's joyful and submissive response to Christ's love. It's all part of the mystery. Paul says, I speak concerning Christ and the bride, the church. And the mystery is at the heart. The mystery is at the heart of it is a Christian marriage. We got to nail this down. We got to really get this in our thinking. Otherwise, we can go dreadfully astray here. So let's really take a moment to get the essence of what this union means, what marriage symbolizes. Again, the mystery of the initiative taking love of Christ and the joyful submissive response of his bride to his love. Those things are mirrored in a healthy biblical marriage. And that's why, by the way, a healthy biblical marriage, in some measure, is supposed to give someone a greater grasp of the gospel. That's important to know. A healthy biblical marriage is supposed to allow a child to observe this interaction between his or her parents. And then that child then gets an inkling of the mystery of Christ's redeeming love and the bride's joyful submission to that love, her response. So, speaking of this, doesn't this just set everything in such a high level, then, this union? Higher than maybe we've ever considered. Doesn't this set our daily marital interactions far above to a higher level than whether all of my emotional needs are being met or whether all of my desires are being completely fulfilled or whether I'm getting my equal share of this or that. You see, all those things are an issue, but it's not. Those aren't THE issue. Because at the very heart of it, the mystery here is this mystery, the initiative love of Jesus Christ and the joyful submission of the people of God to his love.

So, I can't say I follow Jesus Christ and then remain unwilling to love my wife as he loved the church. Nor can the wife say I follow Jesus Christ and she's supposed to submit to the Lord while being unprepared to submit to her husband. That's verse 22. Wives, again, verse 22, submit to your husbands as you submit to the Lord. So, we have this mystery being revealed to us.

And when you begin to read these verses and really take a look at what they're saying, all of a sudden you just realize, wow, this is a great challenge. It's an incredible challenge here because we can say in all of this, the gospel is at stake. The very gospel is at stake. Because how my wife and I, how we live this out, is to mirror Christ's love for his bride and his bride's response to that love. So, it's no wonder the evil one is wanting to attack that very union because in doing so, he's attacking the gospel. He's attacking the good news that Jesus Christ brought.

So, again, verse 22 and 23, wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body. Here. So, let's really break this down. So, he's speaking of Christ and the church. Let's look at it a different way. I want to really get to the essence of this. Ladies, wives, here it is in a simple sentence, this relationship that Paul's speaking of. Here it is. As daunting as it is, when a wife expresses submissive love to her husband, she's depicting how a called believer responds to Jesus Christ. I'll repeat that. As daunting as it is, when a wife expresses submissive love for her husband, she's depicting how a called believer responds to Jesus Christ. So, when she doesn't, she's confusing the issue, and she's marring the Gospel.

Now, it goes without saying that the husbands rule that we'll get to in a few Sabbaths. You know, you can't even reach the levels, the height, the demand in the husband's role, as it mirrors Jesus's role to the church. But the wife is our focus today. The wife is to illustrate how someone is called and comes to believe in the in the in response to Jesus's love. And that individual responds to that with a deep and joyful submission. So, you know, any talk about this role, it needs to start here. It doesn't need to start with anecdotal stories or, you know, you can get your feel on on superficial things through the bookstore, you know, self-help marriage books. But this, this is Scripture. And Paul's very direct in saying the husband is the head. And the husband's the head, just so you know, not because he's smarter, not because he's bigger, not because he's better. The husband's the head simply because God has constituted the order of the relationship in this way for his purposes. And the reason for the wife's submission is ultimately because she submits to Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ is the one who's given headship to the man.

So, you know, in bringing clarity to this, he brings the wife to exercise the responsibilities of her role. She knows that her ultimate submission is to God alone. And that her submission to her husband is as a result of the delegated responsibility that has been entrusted to the man according to God's marriage constitution. And it's all very mysterious. It's all very mysterious, Paul says. And there's so much here.

I don't even know if we've scratched the surface. And we need to get back to 1 Peter 3. But before we go back there, I want to belabor this just a teeny bit more. I want to belabor this submission principle just a little bit more before we get back to 1 Peter 3. Getting back to 1 Peter 3 is going to be good. It's going to be helpful because Peter then goes into the challenges that wives face in that role. But before we get to that, again, let's belabor this a little bit more. This submissive act. Because this is profound. It is a profound act that our wives are called to in this role. I want you to understand the fullness of it. And I want us to turn to one more passage here, and that's Philippians 2, if you will. Philippians 2. And let's look at verses 5 through 7 here. Philippians 2, verses 5 through 7. Now, wives, I really want us to think about these next verses as it applies to your designated submissive role. And I hope this will be a great help. I really do in fulfilling this act. You know, often Jesus Christ is associated with the husband's role. But I want you to see that Jesus Christ is also a model for you in your role as a wife. Philippians 2, verses 5 through 7. Look at what it says. Philippians 2, verses 5.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking on the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

So let's stop there. So, wives, do you see some significance here? Do you see how your submission even correlates with Christ's submission here and your role to your husband? Again, let this mind be in you, which was also in Jesus Christ, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself no reputation, taking on the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. Let me take just a little bit of liberty here, and I want to superimpose the wife's role in these three verses. I hope you see this. Let me read this and just superimpose. Listen to these words. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who the wife, let's say, being in the form of the husband, did not consider it robbery to be equal with the husband, but made herself of no reputation, taking on the form of a bondservant, and coming in her role as a wife.

I want us to remember what Christ's words were before his impending death and resurrection. He said, And now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory that I had with you before the world was. So Jesus spoke of a time before creation when you had these two distinct beings.

They were together in Christ's equality with the Father in the sense that they shared the same level of existence. The Word was with God. You know, the Word became Jesus Christ. We know that. So the Word was with God, and the Word was God. So two distinct beings, equal again in the sense that they were the same level of existence. But the Word was willing to voluntarily surrender His godly power and position for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of the good news that He would bring for us. So while there are many aspects to consider about Christ submitting Himself to the Father in this way, there's many aspects. One direct correlation is the wife's voluntary submission to her husband. Now we know that the the Word and God the Father, it's not a husband-wife relationship. We know that, and I'm not saying that. Ultimately, it became a father-son relationship. But the point of all this is simply it's the same structure is written into the very fabric of marriage.

Listen, husbands and wives share the same nature.

Husband and wives are equal before God.

But in order for the family to function in harmony, the wife with no loss of dignity takes the place of submission to the headship of her husband. In the same way as Christ, with no loss of dignity, took the place of submission to the headship of His Heavenly Father. That's good. That is a wonderful role. It's a bottle, isn't it? So all that in setting our foundation, all that with that spurred with this submission principle that we began with in 1 Peter 3, there again, there's incredible depth here. I think we maybe we've only scratched the surface surface. But let's make our way back now to 1 Peter 3, if you will, where we began. 1 Peter 3 and in verses 1 through 6 again. The scriptures that we began with. Because Peter's going to do something that's very helpful here, I believe. He's going to move on in this discussion, and he's going to speak about the challenges that will come, the very practical challenges that will come in the life of the woman who's fulfilling this role of a wife, the wife role. There's incredible challenges here. So as we began the verse 1 there, here, he's going to begin with the submissive principle, but then he's going to get to a very difficult scenario that can occur. And it can occur with even some of us here today that are going through this. So here, let's read this again and see this difficult challenge that can come up. Verse 1 and verse 2. Wives likewise, 1 Peter 3, verse 1 and 2. Wives likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some of the husbands do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won over by the conduct of their wives when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. So in other words, wives, be in submission to your husband so that if you're with a husband who doesn't obey God's word, they may be won over by you. And they may be won over not by what you say.

They may be won over by what you do. That's what he's saying here. And chaste conduct, that's purity, fear, that's reverence in your life. So again, this scenario may be very familiar to you because here you have a family and as a result of the calling of God, you have a wife, who has come to faith in Jesus Christ through the calling, but the husband is not. And maybe the husband is indifferent and even against in opposition to it. And the phraseology, the original phraseology, really seems to suggest that this husband is against the gospel in God's way of life. And the wife at this time, it was assumed and they were expected to take the husband's religion. So this is very difficult. What was to be done? And that's the very practical question that Peter is addressing here. What's to be done? Well, Peter says the impact of that Christian wife on the husband, who's not conducting himself in a godly way, is not for her husband. Is not for her for her to come to him through his ears. You'll come through him through his eyes, he's saying. You may be tempted as a wife who's in this situation to say, oh, if he'd only hear this, if he could only hear this, maybe it would turn him around.

Well, Peter says, no, the biggest impact is going to come by how you're living your life. So that's the responsibility here. And how is she supposed to live her life? That's verse 2, chase conduct accompanied by fear. What that means is, if you look at the words, it's purity and character and reverence and fear. So she's going to be marked with purity and reverence.

Purity and reverence and how she views God and how she treats him, even when he's not acting as he should, even if he's not following the Word, she still treats him with reverence and fear as she's treating the Lord, her God. And so how will this be shown? How will this be displayed in that scenario? Well, Peter goes on to speak about, you'll notice, a wife's beauty.

Not just any beauty, her true beauty. That's verse 3 and 4. Look at this, verse 3 and 4. Do not let your adornment be merely outward, arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel. Rather, let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. So instead of it uses the word merely outward, he goes on to speak about a different beauty. So before she was converted, she had the normal preoccupations of the world around her, but now a transformation has taken place, and she has a whole new approach to life. And her husband is now going to see an outward change in her life, but it's going to be because an inward transformation has occurred. So verse 3 and 4, Peter's contrast here is between the outward and the inward. Beauty that is stuck on from the outside versus beauty that comes from within. And he speaks of a gentle and quiet spirit, and the contrast between changing styles and that of unfading gems of inner beauty. So the beauty should not come from outward adornment. You know, that second part of verse 3, arranging the hair, wearing gold, putting on final peril. So we may ask, what is this? Is this a ban on a certain hairstyle? You know, it's Peter saying, really, wives, you should have just gotten out of bed and come to church as you were, you know. You shouldn't have fixed your hair. Maybe some of you, while reading these verses, have been slipping off your jewelry and quietly putting it in your purse.

Or if you paid more than $10 for your dress, while you're feeling guilty of that at this moment. Now, you know, that's not what Peter is saying here.

And in actuality, the literal force of Peter's words here, if you press it out of context, you can actually, from the Greek, make Peter state that wearing any clothes is prohibited as an outward adornment. So that would cause its own problem. So that's not what Peter is saying here. He's establishing a principle, isn't he? And he's establishing a principle through an illustration. The principle is, a woman's true beauty should not be as a result of being stuck on on the outside. But it doesn't mean that there's no place of having some attention to outward beauty. He's not saying that. In fact, this example, and this is a good call-out, he's just simply using a technique that Jesus Christ used. I'm sure he learned it from him, potentially, or from the different disciples.

Jesus used this same technique and language. You remember Jesus said at one point, do not work for food that spoils, but work for food that endures to eternal life. So what does that mean? Does that mean that we don't work for food to eat? All food spoils, except McDonald's. But is that what Jesus was saying? No, he's just saying, don't allow your preoccupation with working for the food that sustains physical life. Don't allow that to then supersede what's really important, which is the food that leads to eternal life.

That's what Peter's doing here. There's a place for attention to physical outward beauty, but the real focus, when you get down to it, it should be attention to beauty from within, adornment from within. And we know this, that this is a great challenge because this radical view of beauty, it really is a radical view because we're so bombarded with what society says is beautiful, aren't we? It's all physical. You see it on TV, you see it on the internet, and we're men. We're tempted to gauge our wives against the ladies on TV. And you see this in young men. They're tempted to just choose ladies that look like the ladies that society has said or is beautiful. But what should we do about this? We got to correct that thinking. We got to have this radical thinking. And so we as husbands and fathers, one thing we need to do is to acknowledge and praise our wives and our daughters for their inner loveliness. Praise them and acknowledge when their inner beauty shines. That's what we need to do. The lovely things, the jewels that come from within. That's the truth that we need to be passing on. And what we're going to be passing on is the truth that true beauty can come even with wrinkles.

That's radical thinking, but it's the truth. Beauty can come even with wrinkles. We have some beautiful wives. And when the husbands get to grips with the radical implications of this type of thinking, we can actually, we're able to set our wives free from the tyranny which bombards them from the outside, where they may be tempted to think that Peter's wrong and the world is right. Now Peter says the beauty, let it come from within the inner self. Let it be with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. That's verse 4. Let it be with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. So what does that mean? Well, does that mean marry someone who's quiet? No, no, of course not. That's a superficial quality. This beauty comes in all kinds of personalities. We know some of our ladies are very funny. They'll crack you up all the time. They're very demonstrative, very outgoing people. They may be tempted to say, well, I could never have this jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit. But that's not so. It's not being born naturally shy.

It's being adorned with the Spirit of God, irrespective of the way God made your personality.

And the essence of this is it comes from God when He's producing in you these beautiful gems. You know, it's the jewelry, it's the emerald of compassionate eyes. It's the ruby of an understanding heart. That's what Peter speaks of. And we have a perfect example that he gives us. We have the perfect cover girl. God's cover girl, if you will. That's verse five and six, a supermodel. Verse five and six. And we have many of these women in the Bible. This is what Peter is going to speak about now. Verse five. For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands. As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror. So you want to be a daughter of Sarah. You want to be a daughter of Sarah? Or these Old Testament women? You want to be like them? Their daughters? Well, you may say, I'm not sure about that. But if you look at Sarah, we know by physically, in modern times, she would probably be a model. We know she caught the eye physically of the king, but that's not where her true beauty was. Peter doesn't even mention that. No, he's talking about true beauty. True beauty. And physically, even though she may have been an attractive woman, it's the inner beauty that shines. That's the second part of verse five again. The holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves. I love that phrase. Being submissive to their own husbands. And Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror. So we know Sarah obeyed Abraham, called him Lord. She adorned herself in that way. Where do we find that reference? Let's keep a marker here in 1 Peter 3, and we're just going to turn to this reference that Peter addresses here, because I think it's important. Go back to Genesis 18 for just a moment. We're going to come right back to 1 Peter 3. But Genesis 18 in verse 12, we have here what Peter's referring to, where Sarah calls Abraham Lord. Genesis 18 in verse 12. We see this reference. And we're going to break into Scripture, and I don't want to go too far into it, but I want us to notice something interesting here, than the fact that Peter referenced this. Genesis 18 verse 12, it says, Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord, being old also? So let's stop there. So what do we have here in this reference that Peter makes? Well, I'll tell you what we don't have. We don't have Sarah walking around saying, Oh, Lord Abraham, may I get you some orange juice today, my Lord? You know, Lord Abraham, give me the list of my to-do today. That's not what you have here, not at all. In fact, this reference here, you'll notice she uses this word under her breath, doesn't she? Under her breath. She refers to her husband under her breath as her Lord. I think that's interesting, because what we say under our breath often gives the loudest truth of our heart. So in the quietness of her own heart, she had this regard for Abraham. You know, he's my guy. I love him. He's my master. He's my protector. Oh, he's my provider.

There's something beautiful here. There's an esteem. There's an affection. There's a devotion. However you want to put it together. It's a very wonderful quality. It's a fabulous quality. She adorned herself in this way. This is what we need to pass on to our next generations, right there. Ladies, this is the jewel that we need to pass on to our daughters and granddaughters, the jewel that Sarah wore in so many of those other Old Testament women, honorable Old Testament women, who wore this with honor as they obeyed God and as they submitted to their role of a wife.

If you've ever had children or grandchildren around you for any period of time, the ladies here, speaking to the ladies, you'll notice that when you have them sitting on your lap or sitting next to you, often they'll notice your jewelry. If you're a jewelry wearer, I don't know if that's ever happened, and they'll say, you know, grandma, where did you get that? I really like that ring. Or can I try that bracelet on? And you've maybe even already earmarked some of that jewelry that you're going to pass on to those girls. That's wonderful. It's very nice. But, grandmothers, you want to know the best jewelry you can leave your granddaughters. The most precious jewelry you can pass on to them in the heritage line is the jewel of a submissive and gentle and quiet spirit.

You know, not always moaning and groaning at grandpa. You know, every time I go to grandpa and grandma's house, it seems like she's always yelling at him. She's really letting him have it, you know. And I always see grandpa going into the bathroom. I don't think he has to go to the bathroom. You know, he's in there a lot. You know, she may get your emerald ring, but what's most important is that she gets your example. What's most important is that she get what will be everlasting, an adornment to her, an everlasting adornment. That's what's most important. That's what we need to pass on to our young girls. Let's go back to 1 Peter 3 as we begin to wrap up our study for today. 1 Peter 3 in the last verse, verse 6. 1 Peter 3 verse 6, as we, as you practice being a daughter of Sarah, Peter wants to give a final word to our wives, and the word is, Be strong. Be strong. That's the word here. 1 Peter 3 verse 6, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him, Lord, whose daughters you are, if you do good and are not afraid with any terror. Peter writes these departing words here, and he says, you know, don't be afraid. Do what you know you should do, and don't be afraid. Don't give way to fear, because you are Sarah's daughters. Do what is good. Don't be afraid. Why fear? Why fear?

Well, there's a lot of fear in the 21st century for our young girls, and for many of you.

You know, oh, you're such a wimpy wife. Or, you know, you really need to be your own woman. Don't be tyrannized by that stuff. Again, as you live out your life here in the 21st century, I think it can be fearful sometimes with what you face in adhering yourself to this role.

But he says, I want you to know that you are Sarah's daughters. Do good. Do right. You can do this. Obey the scriptures. Do good. And there may be times in which you feel like an alien or a stranger. There may be times you feel like you are wearing a Viking costume in the grocery store. You know, where they make you feel that way. Don't be afraid, because remember, you're not only now exercising being a daughter of Sarah, but you also will be exercising being a daughter to your Father, your Heavenly Father. And He'll take care of you. He'll take care of you. I encourage you, ladies, to unravel and wives unravel this mystery for yourself so that you can unravel it for the girls that are in your care. Just remember, through your act of submission, you will be displaying to the world how one responds to the love of Jesus Christ of His own. Remember, through your act of submission, you will be displaying to the world how Christ, with no loss of dignity, submitted Himself to His Father. Remember, the submission in which Peter calls for does not negate your spiritual equality before your Heavenly Father. You are equal before Him. But rather, this is just simply one of function.

Every team must have a captain. That's all. Every home must have a head. That's all.

That's all. And God has given the responsibility to the man in this way. Therefore, the characteristic most desirable in a good wife, a good godly wife, is a gentle and quiet spirit which responds with grace in her role.

And instead of being tyrannized by the world's view of beauty, the wife should focus on what God prizes most—the beautiful adornment, the beautiful jewelry He produces in her. All of these verses that we've studied today are dynamic.

May we pray, gentlemen, tonight and every day in thanksgiving for our women and for our wives who are with us. And may the godly wife continue strong as she displays the joy which can be found in the incredible and honorable role of a wife.