Winning Without Words
Bill E Smith
4/1/98
Winning Without Words
Wives, be subject to your own husband; that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the godly behavior of the wives. I Peter 3.1.
When I first read Peter’s statement about a wife’s behavior I did not really realize how true it was, but through the years, I have seen the truth manifested many times.
A man I knew resented his wife’s taking the children to church every Sunday. He told her that when he worked all week, he wanted to be with his family on the weekend. She assured him that she would do all she could to comply with this wish. She would no more shop on the weekends. She would accept no more personal invitations on weekends. The children would not schedule ball games or accept invitations to bunking parties etc. on the weekends. She said that with the single exception that she and the children would be away a few hours on Sunday to go to church services, they would be home all weekend.
Years later, I knew this man as a faithful Christian, and an elder in the local church. I would have never guessed that he had not always been the spiritual leader in his home. This scripture from Peter came up in a Bible class and this man testified that it was his wife’s godly handling of this problem that led him to Christ. He said that it made him ashamed of himself to hobble his family the way he did, and although he tried to seek someone to blame for his discomfort, he could not blame her because she had offered him no excuse.
She ought to have taken a ball bat and worked me over for being so ornery, he confessed.
But instead she worked hard at making my weekend as enjoyable for me as possible. You can’t fight a woman like that! he concluded. He confided that he started going to Bible classes and worship services with the family to make up for his confining wishes, and that he heard the truth and obeyed it. You could feel his admiration for his wife as he discussed her behavior.
I have told this story many times, hoping that women who have been under the influence of the
liberation might know that Peter spoke by inspiration when he made his statement. If you insist on having your way, you may win the battle with your husband, but you may lose his soul. You may win the argument, but be alone to celebrate it. I hope you will give Peter’s way a trial. Win people to Christ by your godly life!
—Bill E. Smith
Oklahoma, City, OK
