Daily Devotional for Thursday 17th October
Unfading beauty
Our first thoughts on reading this passage is probably how strange it is for the woman to be seemingly treated as a second class person. But perhaps it’s worth remembering that in the UK women didn’t have the same voting rights as men until 1928 and equal inheritance rights for men and women only came into force in 1922.
In the Middle East of the first century it was the culture for women to have less rights than men, and Peter’s intention is not to challenge this position, but to provide pastoral support to those in this situation.
Notice however how Peter is counter cultural. We read that both wives and husbands are to behave in the same way. (v1,7), and this must refer back to what he has written in the previous verses, probably back to 2:12 where he urges everyone to live good lives as a witness to others. For husbands that is specifically about being considerate whereas Paul in a similar passage in Ephesians suggested that men should be self sacrificial in their relationship with their wives, ‘as Christ … gave himself up for the church.’
Today on social media image, particularly what you look like seems to be so important. Sometimes people seek to aspire to artificial looks of celebrities where the photographs have been digitally altered to make them look better. The pressure this causes can often lead to psychological damage and mental health issues. What Peter has to say in verses 3 and 4 speak to this and encourages us not to be bound to conform to society’s values. It may be worth pointing out that looking shabby and unkempt is also not a good witness! 2:12.
Time to reflect…
Social media is preaching the exact opposite of what we read in this passage. Perceived outward beauty from ‘celebs’ is more important than the inward damage this causes particularly to young people. What can we do to support young people who have to live in this culture?
Pause to pray…
Father God, we pray for our Government as they seek to control the negative aspects of social media in our society while allowing the positive benefits to continue. We pray for wisdom and discernment for parents and children as they seek to navigate a way through this difficult environment. In Jesus name we pray. Amen
