Advice for Great Relationships!

1 Peter 3: 1 The same goes for you wives: Be good wives to your husbands, responsive to their needs. There are husbands who, indifferent as they are to any words about God, will be captivated 2 by your life of holy beauty. 3 What matters is not your outer appearance - the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes - 4 but your inner disposition. 5 The holy women of old were beautiful before God that way, and were good, loyal wives to their husbands. 6 Sarah, for instance, taking care of Abraham, would address him as "my dear husband." You'll be true daughters of Sarah if you do the same, unanxious and unintimidated. 7 The same goes for you husbands: Be good husbands to your wives. Honor them, delight in them. As women they lack some of your advantages. But in the new life of God's grace, you're equals. Treat your wives, then, as equals so your prayers don't run aground. Suffering for Doing Good 8 Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. (The Message)

Why would the Apostle Peter share marriage advice to Christians? The same reason Jesus told believers to "love one another." Even in a setting or in a person from whom you expect better, there is the reality of our humanness coming out and sometimes winning over our beliefs. Peter was married, for we remember that Jesus healed a fever in the body of Peter's mother-in-law; and we know that among those who were married, their three years with Jesus forever changed their lives. In any relationship, but especially among those who have taken and received vows, understanding and cooperation are key. Peter addresses these and even those of husbands who do not yet believe; Peter believed the living of a good, loving life towards your husband would help in his conversion. Peter knew it was all about what is within, that "inner disposition." And an inner disposition posed towards God and receiving and sharing of what God offers changes everything. Husbands, according to Peter, were expected to do the same, with honor being one of the things husbands should show towards their wives. And Peter shares a radical thought, that "in the new life of God's grace, you're equals." (v. 7) As we treat each other as equals our prayers will not "run aground." To sum up, and again, this applies to all relationships:

Be agreeable. Be sympathetic. Be loving. Be compassionate. Be humble.

A recipe for a great relationship!

PRAYER: Loving God of love, may I seek to be the best towards those with whom I am in relationship. For those who are married, dear God, may we be the best spouse we can, and may our lives be a part of the sharing of the Good News with those who have not yet heard nor believed. May my life lived with special people in my life reflect that I am agreeable, sympathetic, loving, compassionate, and humble. I pray this in Christ Jesus' precious name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

Eradio Valverde