July 19-25 Lesson Four

"What Wives Need to Know About Their Works and Themselves"

The following is a summary adaptation of material from "The Excellent Wife" by Martha Peace.

1. God has prepared good works for the Christian wife to do.

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10

Usually when we think of "works" we think of outward things, don't we? But did you know that the motives of your heart and your attitude are also works? In fact, they are probably the greatest benefiting factor that you will have in your quest for becoming an excellent wife. When your attitude is right, your focus will become totally inward. You will become more and more concerned about what YOU are supposed to be doing instead of what your husband is supposed to be doing. All of us know how easy it is to be so busy worrying about what others are (or are not) doing right that we loose focus of our own lives. It is especially easy for us to judge our husbands because we live with them! We are reminded of their mistakes day and night. Let us continually pray that God will give us the grace to humbly pray each day, "Father, show me what I am to do today. Teach ME to do the good works that You have called ME to do."

2. The Christian wife's good works have eternal worth.

"...each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward." I Corinthians 3:13-14

I don't believe that any of us are exempt from wanted to be rewarded or praised for the good things that we do. It is encouraging to me to know that God has promised eternal rewards for all the properly motivated works that I do here on this earth. I Timothy 4:8 reminds us that our ministry to our husbands is, "profitable for all things, since it holds the promise for the present life and also for the life to come." So you see, being an excellent wife holds rewards not only here on this earth, but also when we spend eternity in Heaven with our Lord.

3. The Christian wife does not have to be afraid.

"Thus Saray obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear." I Peter 3:6

Mrs. Peace explains it this way: "God is the determiner of what is right. He has clearly revealed right and wrong throughout His Word. So, why might you or any Christian wife be afraid to do the right thing? Perhaps you are afraid that you will be hurt, disappointed, embarrassed, or "taken advantage of." Perhaps you may be unsure of what is right. However, the most likely reason that you may be afraid to do what God wants it that you are afraid you won't have your own way. There are all kinds of wrong reasons why you might use your means to try to accomplish your end. For example, you might desire for your husband to do well at work (your end result) so you might lie to his boss about why he is late for work (your means). Instead of taking matters into your own hands, do the right thing by telling the truth and not giving in to your fear." (page 13)

4. The focus of the Christian wife is to be on God rather than herself.

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2

Jesus tells us in His Word that He came to do the work of His Father. He never had his own agenda. And, despite all the humiliation and shame that He suffered, He never once lost sight of His purpose for coming to earth. He kept His focus on His mission even to the end--suffering agony and shame as He hung on a cruel cross. Suppose that Jesus has not prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, "...Nevertheless, not MY will but THINE be done." Suppose He had reacted in a selfish way and gone by HIS own agenda. If that had been the case then today we would all still be lost and undone, separated from God with no hope.

During the course of this study and the continuance of your journey to becoming the excellent wife you cannot afford to take our eyes off Jesus. If you do, you will once again become selfish and self-centered. This will only lead back to the road of misery as you try to fulfill the role of "helper suitable" for your mate. We would all do well to heed the warnings of our brother, the apostle Paul, and strive toward keeping our eyes upon Jesus and God's purpose for our lives rather that on ourselves.

5. A Christian wife does not have to sin.

"...knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin." Romans 6:6-7

Please do not misunderstand what is being said here. Everyone continues to sin after salvation. But here in Romans 6 the phrase, "done away with" means "rendered powerless." Sin no longer has dominion or power over us once we belong to God. It has been broken by Christ Himself. If you have truly been born again, the victory is yours. The battle has already been won! You are free to make the right choices, free to do the right thing. Pray that God will give you grace and mercy. None of us HAVE to sin, as we are no longer bound by sin. The choice is ours.