A Place of Honor
“Husbands, … 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).” I Peter 3:7 NIV
“give honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel.” (NKJV)I have a very special china teacup. It was my great-grandmother’s. She died before I was born, so I never knew her, but my grandmother gave the cup to my mother and she passed it on to me. It’s probably about 100 years old & it’s very fragile.
Unfortunately, over the years, it was chipped and cracked. It’s not a very strong vessel to hold tea any more. Because it’s fragile, I don’t use it to drink from. Instead, it has a special place of honor, on the shelf over my kitchen sink, where I see it everyday.
Our Bible verse today from I Peter tells us that women are the “weaker vessel” or weaker partner. We don’t like to think of ourselves as weak. The Greek word means physically not strong.
We can work out and play sports and develop strong muscles - and we should have strong healthy bodies - but God created men with more physical strength than women.
Men need to protect and provide for their families. This verse tells husbands to treat their wives with honor, or respect as the weaker vessel. We actually get special treatment, just as I’ve taken great care with my special teacup and put it in a place of honor.
The world tells us to compete with men, do everything they do, but God tells us that He created men to be stronger than us. That’s okay because we have a special place of honor and respect. Husbands are supposed to treat their wives with special honor, realizing God created men stronger than women. Both husband and wife, if they know the Lord, are heirs together of eternal life.
Be feminine; enjoy being a girl! That is how God created you. Don’t try to be like a boy or a man. Instead, rejoice that God made girls and boys, men and women, different and that He gave us a special place of honor.
Copyright, 2007, Laurie Latour.
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