The word of God says,
“So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” Genesis 2:21-25 NASB
It says, “For this reason.”
What reason?
Because Eve was found from her husband, her husband has to first leave his father and mother, then “be joined to his wife.” Then what? Then “they shall become one flesh.”
Notice there is process to “oneness.”
God does not make Adam every time a marriage happens. Now what replaced that process of creation is marriage vows, covenants a couple makes between them and each with God to be one until death do them part.
But notice, marriage is a call of one-flesh relationship. For two people to be one, the man, the husband, has to first leave his parents.
In Hebrew language, “leave” is translated as “forsake,” or, “cut it off.”
This does not mean, however, that the man has to ignore his parents and families once he gets married. The Bible says,
“But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.” 1Timothy 5:4, 8 NIV
“To make some return to their parents” NASB
When a man gets married, he leaves his father and mother so that he will be one with his wife. This leaving does not mean neglecting his aging parents; rather it means, making his wife his number one priority, not his parents.
If a husband does not do that, if he gives too much attention and care to his parents, he finds it hard to be one with his wife, first emotionally and spiritually; then later sexually.
But remember, a wife should not force her husband leave his parents. She does not need to preach to him or nag him to read Genesis 2:24.
If a husband does not make his wife his number one priority, which is his godly call, here is the instruction for the wife to do from the word of God:
“In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.” 1 Peter 3:1-4 NASB
The operating phrase, at least for our purpose of discussion here, is “without a word,” means, without a wife preaching to her husband or nagging him to make her his priority.
What does she need to do?
She attracts God with her hidden beauty. That beauty that attracts God is “the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.”
My friend, this kind of beauty can only be found from the Holy Spirit, by spending time with the word of God in prayer, meditation and putting the word of God to practice.
Remember, every wife has a potential to influence her husband. It doesn’t matter who she is. She influences her husband. The question is in what way does she influence him?
Simply put, 1 Peter 3:1-4 calls a wife to influence her husband by her gentle and quiet spirit so her husband will be the kind of husband God calls Him to be.
Such an honorable call! ///