|
"But
let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not
corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit,
which is in the sight of God of great price."
1
Peter 3:4
Just in
case you do not know the context of this verse (I did not
put it all here for sake of room), this passage is written
specifically to women. The Lord is admonishing women that
they can win their lost husbands through obedience to the
scriptures and the way that they live their lives putting on
a meek and quiet spirit, which is of great price in God's
sight. Now, nothing in the Bible is put there just to take
up space; if the Lord put a command in the Bible, it is
there because He knows that we are going to have a problem
with it. For example, he put quite a bit in the Bible about
women's dress, because He knew that women were going to have
a problem with their dress and He put this command here
because He knows that women also have a problem with their
spirit. First of all, I want to look at some of the kind of
spirits that we could have versus a meek and quiet spirit,
and we are going to find them in the book of Proverbs. Look
with me at Prov. 14:39, "He that is slow to wrath is of
great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth
folly." You could have a hasty spirit; hasty to judge
someone, before you find out the whole story, hasty to fly
off the handle and rip into someone and this includes your
spouse and your children. Eccl 7:9 says that if you are
hasty to get angry, you are a fool. Proverbs 15:13 says,
"A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow
of the heart the spirit is broken."
Maybe you have a sorrowful
spirit all the time; maybe you go around depressed and
wallowing in your grief. There is no way that you can help
your family or anyone else when you have no joy. Nobody is
going to want to get saved, including your family if they do
not see the joy of the Lord in your life. The only time that
you need a broken spirit is when you are sorrowing over your
sins and are repenting. You cannot be saved without a broken
and contrite spirit (Psalm 34:18). There are times when
circumstances in life cause a broken spirit, but in those
times we need to turn our eyes upon the Lord and submit to
His will and let His joy feel our hearts again. Proverbs
16:18 says, "Pride goeth before
destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."
A haughty, proud spirit. That one really speaks for
itself. You have a proud spirit, you will fall; you'll end
up in divorce, you'll lose your children to the Devil,
you'll be an hindrance to your husband and your family, the
Lord will have to bring you down. Another verse for this is
Prov. 29:23. Proverbs 18:14 says, "The spirit of a
man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can
bear?"
You could have a wounded spirit;
I do not know that I know all the implications of a wounded
spirit, but it kind of makes me think of someone who is
afraid all the time. And I know that there are circumstances
that happen to people, and things that are done to people
that can make them this way. However, the Bible says in II
Timothy 1:7, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;
but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." If you have
a wounded spirit, that spirit is not from the Lord, it is
from the Devil, but the Lord is greater than the Devil. The
blood of Jesus is able to take that away.
Now, lets look
at the kind of spirit that we need to have. Prov. 11:13
says, "A
talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful
spirit concealeth the matter."
How many women do you know that can keep from blabbing
everything that they know about everybody else? We need a
faithful spirit, Amen? Proverbs 17:27 says,
"He that
hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding
is of an excellent spirit."
We need an
excellent spirit which is evident by our being able to hold
our tongue. And most of all we need to be in control of our
spirit. There are two different verses that talk about
control of the spirit. Look at Prov. 16:32, "He that is slow
to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his
spirit than he that taketh a city." And Prov. 25:28 "He that
hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is
broken down, and without walls." Self-control is the key.
And how do we do that?
"This I say then, Walk in
the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the
other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if
ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the
works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife,
seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness,
revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before,
as I have also told you in time past, that they which do
such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against
such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we
live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us
not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another,
envying one another."
Galatians 5:16-26.
Until next
time, God bless you.
Sis. Tanya
|
in the
