and then some more . . .: Spirit-Quiet and the Great Remodel

Quiet does not come naturally for me. And, although at times I can be rather loud, I am not talking about volume. I'm talking about spirit-quiet. The kind of quiet that takes whatever it's given and chooses to react with the strength that only Creator God can initiate. It's the quiet that Peter defined as unfading beauty when he wrote to wives . . .

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."

1 Peter 3:3-4 NIV

I wrote last week about how God used that passage of Scripture to revolutionize my dating life during my college years. Today, I'd like to tell you how God has used it during this past month to remodel my marriage and my role as a wife.

There are areas of my home that I ~~often~~ almost always allow clutter to consume. Quiet, unfading beauty notices that it bothers her husband and starts doing something about it. Thus, God is helping me get rid of clutter collection spots in my home. Or at least genuinely try.

We have this peninsula in our kitchen. This is what it usually looks like, give or take a few dozen items. (And by "items" I mean "clutter".

This week, God and I have been working on rearranging it to look more like this...

Minus the fly in the bottom right corner, of course. Perhaps God and I should invest in a fly swatter?

We had a big birthday bash for our youngest daughter the other day. An unfadingly beautiful spirit appreciates everything her husband does to help prepare for the party. Even if he doesn't clean the tables exactly as she would have done it. I wish I could say I succeeded here, ladies. The truth of the matter is, I did not. I used jokes to let him know I didn't like his method. After which I was immediately convicted by the truth of God's Word that reminded me that true beauty behaves in a way that could make followers of Jesus Christ out of unfollowers.

"Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives." 1 Peter 3:1-2

See, there was a tiny little piece of my spirit that wouldn't let go of my selfish need to have it done my way. A small little bitter root that motivated the joking and elevated it from funny and light teasing to coarse joking. But, according to 1 Peter 3, I am called as a wife to let it go. I am called to react from a place of quiet and gentleness that puts my husband before myself. I am called to live in such a way that would attract my husband to Jesus Christ. And coarse joking that is spawned from a bitter root does not fit that job description.

I'm afraid God might still be in the demolition stage of this part of the remodel, ladies.

And then there's the whole issue of the body that belongs to this truly beautiful woman that Peter describes. Spirit-quiet sees that body filtered through the truth of the God's Word and does not verbally tear it apart. Especially in front of her husband. This is a tough one, I must admit. Spirit-quiet lets her husband tell her she's beautiful and hears it, listens to it, even believes it. Because spirit-quiet is beautiful. Unfadingly so. That is a biblical fact.

Although we're a little beyond the demolition for this part of the remodel, there is still much work to be done here.

There are other areas of my home that I know God is working on. Taking the sledge-hammer to the loud in my spirit and replacing it with His quiet. It's kind of hard sometimes. But, despite the difficulty, I am realizing that, above all else, the spirit-quiet woman humbly trusts God's way of life.

With vigilance. And that, my dear friends does a beautiful woman make.