Daily Devotional
Protecting The Weaker Vessel

May 9, 2017

First Peter 3:7 says, "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them [wives] according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered."

When the Bible instructs husbands to protect their wives because they are the weaker vessels, this doesn't mean that they are inferior vessels.

Let me illustrate. Which is weaker, porcelain or steel? With porcelain you can make a beautiful cup. With steel you can make a sledge hammer to drive a spike. Which is weaker? The cup. Which is better? They can't be compared. The same is true of denim and silk. Which is weaker? Silk. Which is better? That depends on its use.

Men and women are not up for comparison. They are equal in God's eyes. But God made us different that He might make us one. Ephesians 5:28 says, "Men ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself." According to this verse, husbands commit marital suicide if they don't protect their wives.