What it Means to Be a “1 Peter 3 Wife” {Part 2}
Our dear friend, Lorraine, is sharing her story this week. Please follow along! (If you’re just joining us, please read part 1 of Lorraine’s story first.)
So one day I stumbled, or rather God directed me to a bible verse that literally changed my life; 1 Peter 3 1-6.
I understood this in relation to a Christian woman being married to an unbeliever, but my spouse was not behaving as a believer who loved and obeyed God’s word. I felt so very strongly that God was calling me to stick with him. I had spoken at length to my spouse, with regard to how he was living and behaving. However, I was seeing the speck in his eye when there was a plank in my own (Matthew 7:3). I had tried everything humanly possible, but to no avail. When sin has a firm grip on our hearts, we often don’t want to hear what others have to say. The only one who can ever call us out of our sin is Christ Jesus (Luke 5: 31-32). I can even remember a time when my husband actually told me it would take a miracle for him to love me again.
Although I am normally a very outspoken woman, I had to learn to be quiet and through God’s help I began my journey to becoming a “1 Peter 3 wife”! If you knew me you would know that this is humanly impossible. However, with God’s grace and love within my own heart, he began a work that although is still in progress, transformed my life and marriage to nothing short of that miracle my husband said needed to take place!
Treating my husband as Christ has taught me
Another verse I kept very close to my heart was Psalm 46: 10: “Be still and know that I am God.”
Every time I struggled with a situation, a harsh word or unloving act—even with what was going on in my head and the daily battle of life—I would speak this verse to myself over and over again. I had an artillery battery of verses that I drew upon when weakness was ready to overwhelm me. The Psalms became a daily precious friend, which I drew upon to give me strength when I was at my lowest ebb. And when I felt I couldn’t pray, I would just read these precious words out loud as my prayer to my Lord.
At this time a dear Christian sister helped me to see past my earthly husband and look to my Heavenly Husband. Until this time in my life I had never considered The Lord Jesus Christ as my husband, but wow! what an impact this view and concept had on my life. It helped me see things in a totally different light. Christ was my Heavenly Husband who loved me and promised to love me forever. He would never let me down and would always be there for me, he would never leave me for another. He wanted me to enjoy him; He longed for me to long to spend time with him.
Discovering His real love
I had been a Christian for over 25 years and, sad to say, I did not feel this way towards my Heavenly Husband! It made me look at how I had been like an unfaithful spouse to my Lord and savior, the one who loved me with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3); the one who had only given me good things; who took on human flesh; who lived a perfect life and gave his life for me and took my place where I deserved to be because HE LOVES ME. This is real love! This is love that radically melts the hardest heart and impacts lives forever and this is the love my Heavenly Husband has for me! This totally blows me away every time I contemplate this truth, even now as I write, it makes my heart leap and fills me with an immeasurable joy at what Christ Jesus has done for me.
Was it too much that my savior was calling me to give grace after all that he has done for me? It put the whole of my life in a better perspective. It changed how I look at not only my husband, but also my children, my parents, friends and family, in fact, everyone I meet! I don’t want them to see me; I want them to see Christ because only He will make a difference in their lives, not me; him. It’s not what I do or say that will ever change anything, but Christ calls us all whether we are married or single to live only for Christ.
Please join us tomorrow for the 3rd and final part to Lorraine’s story. Believe me, you want to come back!
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