Why I Think it’s a Good Thing that Wives are the Weaker Vessel

1st Peter 3:7 says, “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.”

Wives are the weaker vessel.

Does this statement make you cringe?  Is Scripture sexist?  Why does it say this?

This passage offends many women.  They feel insulted. But this is not an insult.  In Heaven’s economy, this is actually a great compliment.

 

2 Corinthians 4:6-7 says, “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”

The Greek word for vessel is the same in both passages.  We have the treasure of the Holy Spirit of God living within us—earthen vessels.  

Imagine a flower pot with a candle inside.  If the pot is whole the light will shine out of the top only.  But what if the pot is broken? What if it is cracked? If the pot is broken and cracked light will shine not only from the top but from the sides as well.  

This is also true of us.  We have the treasure of Christ living within us, earthen vessels.  The weaker the vessel, the more cracks it has and the more broken it is, the more the treasure is seen.

As believers, we should never see our own weakness as a bad thing.  The areas where we are weakest are where God is seen most clearly.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 says, “Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Paul took pleasure in his weakness because when he was weak then he was strong.  God’s strength is made perfect in weakness.

Rather than seeing the statement that wives are the weaker vessel as an insult, we should take it as a compliment.  Our weakness is a chance to more clearly demonstrate the power of God in our lives. As women, we have the tremendous privilege of being the weaker vessel, the vessel through which God can showcase His incredible strength.

 

Gladys Aylward was a British missionary to China in the 1930s.  She was petite and uneducated. She joined the China Inland Mission to be trained and sent but her grades were not high enough and they dismissed her from training.  Uneducated and unqualified, Gladys was not accepted by any missionary organization. Nonetheless, she was sure that she was called to serve the Lord in China so she worked as a maid and earned the money for train fare to China.

Gladys was weak.  She was unqualified.  She was an unlikely choice. But God used her.

She traveled all over China sharing the gospel.  She stopped a prison riot and worked to reform the prisons in China.  She rescued and cared for orphans.

Her life is a testament to the incredible power of our mighty God.  She was weak but God showed His power through her life.

We cannot look at her life and think that she was just really strong.  We cannot think that she was just really smart or gifted. When we look at her life, we have to see the power of God.  It was His work in her life that is so incredible.

Through her weakness, God demonstrated His incredible strength.  He desires to do that in all of our lives. God wants to use our weakness to glorify Himself.

 

So instead of complaining about your weakness, instead of feeling insulted by the insinuation that you are weak, rejoice in your weakness and allow God to use your weakness to demonstrate His amazing strength.   

 

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Kaitlyn Donihue is a writer, speaker, and pro-life advocate. She travels across the United States and speaks about the value of human life and the love of Christ.  You can find her blog at www.simplydevoted.org.