Wives Striving For Godliness

A WIFE STRIVING FOR GODLINESS

INTRODUCTION:

A. The observation has often been made that our generation is starving for heroes that it can

admire and role models that it can look up to and emulate:

1. If looking in the music industry, Hollywood, & sports this is certainly true! (Examples)

2. Maybe there are less proportionally than there used to be, but there are still many great

role models if we will look in a spiritual direction! (Examples)

3. One area where role models seem to be especially lacking is in the home – Where are

the great fathers? The great husbands? The great mothers? And the great wives?

B. This morning let’s study about wives – The kind of wife striving to please God & be her

best in her relationship to her husband – A true hero & role model!

I. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A WIFE WHO IS STRIVING FOR GODLINESS:

A. She is willingly submissive to her husband:

1. Peter begins by instructing wives to be submissive to their husbands (I Peter 3:1)

2. For the woman who is striving for godliness, submission is not something she dreads or

something she sees as a limitation – it’s something she embraces:

a. Submission is an obligation – She knows God has given her a role in the marriage

relationship & has commanded her to submit & she wants to please the Lord

b. Submission is an opportunity – An opportunity to set a good example, teach others

through her life, and here, an opportunity to influence an unbelieving husband

c. Submission is an ornament –As some find glory in gold, pearls, & costly clothes…

Her attitude & character of submissiveness clothes, beautifies, & glorifies her!

3. A great negative example is Samson’s wife – How she nagged & manipulated him

showed her wickedness & unwillingness to submit (Jud 14:15-17)

4. The woman who is submissive may have the power to prick the heart of her unfaithful

a. There’s a play on words here – The wives are to remain quiet (without a word) so

that the husbands who have been disobedient to the word may be changed

b. He may not listen to the gospel or respond to it but he lives daily with a powerful

example of the power of Christ & the gospel in his face… You can’t ignore that

c. This woman understands the role God has given her and wants to be submissive…

she doesn’t want to nag him with the gospel so she just lives it! (Prov 19:13)

d. Illust: Woman’s husband gave her a hard time… one day disconnected battery

cables… car wouldn’t crank so without a word to her husband she started walking… he later felt bad, showed up at services & then obeyed the gospel

B. She demonstrates conduct that is consistent with godliness:

1. The way this wife conducts her life is motivated by her passion for godliness (1 Pet 3:1-2)

2. A godly wife’s conduct is described here as being chaste: (Titus 2:3-5)

a. Chaste means – Clean, innocent, modest, and pure  Her life is clean, her speech

wholesome, and her dress is modest

b. Some wives feed off attention from other men and are overtly flirtatious… But this

wife is chaste & there’s only one man she wants to chase her… her husband!

3. Chaste conduct in and of itself is not the goal, but it’s to be accompanied by fear:

a. This may refer to her attitude to her husband – Since fear simply means to respect

it certainly fits… She doesn’t just submit because she has to, but desires to!

b. She is a woman her fears God first and foremost… This motivates her attitude

toward her husband and her conduct throughout her life! (Proverbs 3:5-7)

C. Her focus is not on showing off her outward beauty but developing her inward beauty:

1. The wife who is really trying to please God doesn’t make externals her focus (I Tim 3:3)

a. When people think of this woman their first thoughts shouldn’t be, “Wow her hair is

fixed up perfectly! She’s got great costly jewelry! Her clothes are the finest!

b. In our society sexy sells… and it sells BIG! It’s used to market everything from

acne medicine to shoes – Many women want to appear beautiful & sexy & will

sacrifice anything to achieve it… Even their modesty, practicality, & spirituality!

c. We need to look at her need for modesty (I Tim 2:9-10) – She refuses to dress in

way to draw sexual attention to herself since she is her husband’s & she

doesn’t want to draw undue attention to herself by dressing too flamboyantly

d. Some never grew up… They live in a Barbie world wanting everything their Barbie

had! Think: “If Barbie is so great, why do you have to buy all her friends?”