Monday, February 4, 2013

Won Without Any Words

Over the years we have seen an interesting phenomena in the churches we have pastored: there are usually more women in church than men. Many times, during a testimony service, some woman will testify, asking for prayer, that her husband will come to know the Lord as his personal Saviour. They'd love to have a united home with both of them serving the Lord and they long for that day.

Like most of us, who aren't content to wait for the Lord to act, they set out to 'make it happen'. They plead and cajole with their husbands to come to church with them. They use their children to guilt them into attending. They even argue and fight about it. They point out all their husband's faults and begin to compare them with the few Christian husbands they see every Sunday at church. Sometimes they turn on the tears and beg.

 If the husband gives in to any one of these tactics and winds up attending, he'll only sit there grumpy and resenting his Christian wife. The wife sits through the service silently willing the pastor to preach a 'hell fire and brimstone' style of message designed to drag her husband to the altar. When neither happens she leaves frustrated and he leaves feeling much the same. 

Neither one of them had to feel that frustration if only the wife had followed God's Word and waited patiently for God to move on her behalf. It is not God's will for couples to be divided, especially in regards to  salvation, so we know that, because of Scripture, that when we pray God's will, that it will be done, in God's timing. 


1 John 5:14-15

14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

So the wife who prays that her husband will be saved will see it come to pass because it is God's will that he be saved. 

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Peter instructs these wives, the Christian wives with unsaved husbands, in 2 Peter 3:9:

Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behaviour of their wives,

When we, as wives, accept our husband's authority in the home, as God lays it out in His Word, we go a long way towards showing them the love of Christ. Our husbands don't need to be preached at, that will only drive them further away from the things of the Lord. They don't need to see us acting 'holier than thou' towards them. Neither do they need to see us not respecting them and putting them down. I love how Peter tells these wives that they will win their husbands to the Lord without even using words. Sometimes we women can tend to be chatty. But we all know that actions speak louder than word.

I once heard it said that a Christian should be the best employee a company could ever have (Ephesians 6:5-8) and I believe that's true because we are to reflect and represent Christ wherever we go. But I believe this also applies to wives, (and husbands). Because we are Christian we should be the BEST wife/husband possible. We should show the love of Christ to our spouse every day, not just on the days we want them to go to church with us. I believe that when we concentrate on being the best wife possible instead of fixating on what we don't have...a Christian husband, then they will be won. Why do I believe this? Because it says so in God's Word "they may be won over without words by the behaviour of their wives."

Let encourage you today that if you have an unsaved spouse that you (1) pray for them, (2) that you consciously act like a Christian towards them and finally (3) that you be still and wait for God to be true to His Word. God bless you!

1 comment

  1. Thanks for sharing again Laurie !! I've been trying for some time now to connect with your Web page again, wouldn't except my password anymore...I read them a lot but couldn't respond on here. Think i've done it now. Enjoy your messages so much. { Hugs } Love you my friend, have a nice day <3 xoxox

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