在家中为基督而活
彼得前书三章1至7节
1你们作妻子的要顺服自己的丈夫；这样，若有不信从道理的丈夫，他们虽然不听道，也可以因妻子的品行被感化过来；
2这正是因看见你们有贞洁的品行和敬畏的心。
3你们不要以外面的辫头发，戴金饰，穿美衣为妆饰，
4只要以里面存着长久温柔、安静的心为妆饰；这在神面前是极宝贵的。
5因为古时仰赖神的圣洁妇人正是以此为妆饰，顺服自己的丈夫，
6就如撒拉听从亚伯拉罕，称他为主。你们若行善，不因恐吓而害怕，便是撒拉的女儿了。
7你们作丈夫的，也要按情理（原文是知识）和妻子同住；因他比你软弱（比你软弱：原文作是软弱的器皿），与你一同承受生命之恩的，所以要敬重他。这样，便叫你们的祷告没有阻碍。
信息分享
彼得如今将话题一转，论到夫妇之中的一人成了基督徒后，可能引起的家庭问题。
为甚么他给妻子的劝勉，远远多过他劝丈夫的话呢？因为在当时的异教社会中，妻子如果接受了基督，而丈夫并未接受的话，她遇到的困难和问题会较多。今天的情况也可能差不多。
做丈夫的如果成了基督徒，他的妻子和儿女极可能会随他一起信主。但反过来说，如果是妻子成了基督徒，而丈夫却未信，那就问题大了。因为当时的女性并没有自主权，她只是属于丈夫的一项资产，她的丈夫可以随时把她休弃或与她离婚。
即使是今天，信徒与非信徒结婚所产生的问题，也绝不容易处理。有见及此，信徒应该一早就摒弃与未信者谈恋爱及结婚的念头。
彼得没有教导已信主的妻子离开丈夫，也没有叫她不断向丈夫传道，或为信仰与丈夫争辩，或经常啰唆他信主。反之，他劝勉她们要忠于自己的丈夫，和尽量做好妻子的本分。他指出，她以贤淑的品行来为基督作见证，远远比她用美丽的衣服来妆饰更为有效。她的丈夫见到她的美好品行，便晓得是信仰改变了她。
有一位作者曾经用一句话来概述这番教导，就是：「以美好的生活见证来潜移默化地传道」。
已信主的丈夫也同样有他的责任。他应该体贴和爱护妻子，谨记我们所拥有的一切都是从基督而来。
彼得最后提出了一项严厉的警告：我们的家庭生活若失去见证，便可能会妨碍我们的祷告生活。我们必须切记这点。
LIVING FOR CHRIST IN OUR HOMES
1 Peter 3: 1-7
1 Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives,
2 when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.
3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—
4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
5 For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands,
6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.
7 Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.
Message
Peter turns now to the domestic or family problems which arise when one partner becomes a Christian while the other does not.
Why is his advice to wives six times as long as his word to husbands? Because the wife's problem in those heathen days, if she accepted Christ and he did not, was much more difficult than that of a husband. It is possibly much the same today.
If a husband became a Christian, his wife and family would probably follow his lead. But if she was the Christian and he was not, she faced tremendous problems. She had no rights of her own. She was only a piece of property. Her husband could dismiss or divorce her at any moment.
Even today there are few experiences more difficult than to be united in marriage with an unbeliever. No Christian should ever begin such a union.
Peter did not tell the Christian wife to leave her husband. He did not tell her to preach, argue or to nag. He did tell her to insist on her rights as a Christian.
Instead he told her to be loyal to her husband and to be a good wife to him. He said that a Christian wife witnesses for Christ by being more interested in her clothes. In these ways, her husband will see Christ in her.
One writer says that all of this can be summed up in this phrase, 'the silent preaching of a lovely life'.
The Christian husband has his responsibilities too. He should be thoughtful and loving, remembering we all owe everything to Christ.
Peter adds a strong word of warning. It is possible for our prayers to be hindered by failure to live for Christ in our homes. That is something we all need to remember every day.