“For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands.”
also adorned themselves,
Peter now specifies what he means by adornment. The point is not physical adorning here. They adorned themselves in their person. However, neither does Peter put a value on poor grooming. Some women feel that if their hair looks like the mop’s worst end, this is spirituality! They wonder why their husbands look at other women.
The Greek tense indicates that these women were accustomed to adorning themselves this way.
PRINCIPLE:
A good relationship finds its foundation in personal maturity.
APPLICATION:
Women who see a man with sex appeal and jump at him on a wave of libido make a big mistake. They will live in a vacuum. Very few women run down to the department store and pick out the first dress they see. No, they get a good picture of how it looks on them. Why should a woman jump at the first man she sees?
A woman with good sense does not fall for the fast line. She does not fall for clucking noises. Everyone has strong points and weak points. This is true with everyone that walks on two legs. Everyone has points of strength and weakness. The woman who only sees strong points is vulnerable to the strong line. He may be very unstable. She will not find the truth until it is too late.
Maturity sees both weak points and strong points. She can see the balance and love him in the face of the actual reality of where he is. True love has its eyes open. Love does not depend on the other person, either. Mature love loves out one’s own capacity to love.
A mature woman is not in a hurry to become married. First, toward herself, she needs to build up norms, so she has a mature judgment about people. Second, she can distinguish a cluck from a mature man. How many women who wear a size nine dress would buy a dress size 16 or 6? Why would you marry a man who is size 16 or 6? Choosing a man is far more important than choosing a dress.
