I Peter 3:1-12
I have long imagined that Peter had read some of Paul’s letters and that some of the topics that he covered had come from those letters. We see that today in Peter’s comments directed to wives and husbands (vv. 1-7), with six verses directed to wives and only one verse directed to husbands. Paul had followed a similar pattern in his Ephesians and Colossians letters. And again I suspect that both Paul and Peter were both writing in the context of the times in which they lived, where women were (almost) more like property than family. But I recall (and I could be wrong in this) Debbie saying that much of Paul’s instruction to women back then could be applied to both men and women today. So too with Peter’s words in today’s reading.
There is, however, one item in particular from those first seven verses that caught my eye in today’s reading: Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. (vv. 1-2) The phrase, “without a word” struck me. There is a quote that is popularly attributed to St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary use words.” No doubt, our actions speak louder than our words! One other item in this first verse that caught my eye was Peter’s focus on evangelism, “…so that…they may be won…”. We don’t read so much about Peter’s evangelistic activity compared to Paul’s, but clearly winning others was always on Peter’s mind!
Slava Bohu!