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husbands, honor your wives

1 Peter 3:7 (JDV)

1 Peter 3:7 Husbands, likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker container, showing them due honor as coheirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

husbands, honor your wives

Peter’s command for husbands (relating back to the original command to submit to all creatures (2:13) is to follow the example of how Sarah deferred to Abraham. Husbands should likewise defer to their wives, showing them the honor due them as coheirs of the grace of life. Both Christian husbands and wives contain the same treasure of God’s grace, and the wife should not be treated as a second-class treasure simply because her husband’s container might be stronger.

This is the radical equality that Peter is preaching. It calls for husbands to sacrifice dominance to display the glory of God’s grace in their wives. We, husbands, cannot obey this command if we insist our wives are separate but equal. Coheirs have no hierarchy. They share equally in God’s grace.