3:6
Sarah is cited as an example of a women who submitted to her husband. Now remember that Abraham was not a perfect husband. Twice he lied about Sarah being his wife in order to protect himself. Then there is the Hagar incident. “She did not give way to fear”. We can often react out of fear. We think that if we do submit (and remember the general principle here applies to all, not just women) we will suffer. Well we may suffer in the short term, but who is the one who ultimately rewards us? It is God, so we are far wiser to seek to please Him instead of acting out of fear.
3:7
We do not appreciate how radical it was for husbands to treat their wives with respect, rather than as chattels or sex-objects. Right back in Genesis it says that God created us in His image, male and female He created us. This is fundamental to a Christian understanding of the world. We were all created in the image of God, and as Christians one of the distinguishing marks should be the way we treat women.
“As the weaker partner”. Now this upsets some people, but it probably refers to women being physically weaker in some respects. Men and women are not the same, we are equal but different. We are co-heirs of the gift of life. As husbands we need to regard our wives’ spiritual development as just as important as our own, indeed the two are inextricably linked.
If we don’t do these things our prayers will indeed be hindered, for it will hinder our relationship with God, and prayer is about a relationship.
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