1 Peter 3:7
June 22, 2025
Dr. Mark S. Hartman, Lead Pastor – SCBC
1.GOD DESIGNED MARRIAGE TO REFLECT MUTUAL SACRIFICE — BUT IN DIFFERENT WAYS. (Ephesians 5:22, 25)
A.Ephesians 5:22, 25 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her...
1.To submit means to voluntarily place another person's needs and desires above your own. It means to willingly take second place.
2.To love means to voluntarily give yourself away to meet another person’s needs and desires in the place of your own. It means to willingly take second place.
B.Ephesians 5:21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
C.God used two different words with the same core meaning — putting the other first — each tailored to meet the spouse’s deepest need.
1.A husband has an innate need to be respected by his wife as the servant leader in his home.
2.Matthew 20:25-26 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that in this world kings are tyrants, and officials lord it over the people beneath them. 26 But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, … (NLT)
D.A wife has an innate need to be loved, to be special, to be cherished by her husband.
2.GOD DIRECTS HUSBANDS TO LOVE THEIR WIVES IN THREE DISTINCT WAYS. (1 Peter 3:7)
A.1 Peter 3:7 In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat her with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life. If you don't treat her as you should, your prayers will not be heard.
B.Love your wife with honor. (1 Peter 3:7)
1.1 Peter 3:7 In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives.
2.“Honor is a decision we make to place a high value, worth, and importance on another person, viewing your wife as a priceless gift, and granting her a position in our lives worthy of great respect.” (The Gift of Honor by Gary Smalley & John Trent)
C.Love your wife with understanding. (1 Peter 3:7)
1.1 Peter 3:7 Treat her with understanding as you live together.
a.1 Peter 3:7 You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way…
b.You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman…(NASB)
2.Men, you have more muscles than your wife. Treat her with gentleness and kindness.
D.Love your wife as an equal. (1 Peter 3:7)
1.1 Peter 3:7 She may have fewer muscles than you, but she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life.
2.Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave or free, there is neither male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
3.GOD GIVES MEN A WARNING. (1 Peter 3:7)
1 Peter 3:7 … she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life. If you don't treat her as you should, your prayers will not be heard."