PARENTING & FAMILY
How can I effectively balance my roles as parent and wife?

(1 Peter 4:1-8)
Love each other.
Parents face some of the same pressures that suffering Christians did in Peter's era. There was the fear of what might happen next (4:1). There was the nagging guilt of past mistakes (4:3). And there was the constant pressure of work that needed to be done (4:9-11). Peter's counsel to suffering Christians is also practical for today's busy parents. He points them to basis: prayer and love.

"Everything will soon come to an end," said Peter (4:7). He probably meant Christ's return and the end of this world. But parents can benefit from the reminder that childhood also comes to an end—although anyone with a two year old will have trouble believing this! But soon enough, that important, yet limited, year of life ends. Remembering Peter's words will help you put your parenting efforts in perspective. And while you are in the endurance phase, "be serious and be sensible enough to pray" (4:7).

What doesn't end, if we do it right, is marriage. Peter instructed his readers to endure suffering by loving each other. Parents, too, need to focus on each other. So take time to keep on developing your love. Long after the children have graduated to adulthood, you'll still be looking at the same husband across the kitchen table. (See also Deuteronomy 8:1-10; Job 38:1-40:5).

Words to remember:
Everything will soon come to an end. So be serious and be sensible enough to pray. Most important of all, you must sincerely love each other, because love wipes away many sins.—1 Peter 4:7,8

1 Peter 4:1-8
Being Faithful to God
4 Christ suffered here on earth. Now you must be ready to suffer as he did, because suffering shows that you have stopped sinning. ²It means you have turned from your own desires and want to obey God for the rest of your life. ³You have already lived long enough like people who don't know God. You were immoral and followed your evil desires. You wend around drinking and partying and carrying on. In fact, you even worshiped disgusting idols. ⁴Now your former friends wonder why you have stopped running around with them, and they curse you for it. ⁵But they will have to answer to God, who judges the living and the dead. ⁶The good news has even been preached to the dead, so that after they have been judged for what they have done in this life, their spirits will live with God.

⁷Everything will soon come to an end. So be serious and be sensible enough to pray.

⁸Most important of all, you must sincerely love each other, because love wipes away many sins.

These excerpts are from The Bible for Today's Christian Woman. This Bible is no longer in print. But new this month is the Woman's Life Bible, which includes the same great features for today's busy woman. Click here to purchase the Woman's Life Bible.

Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today, Inc. All rights reserved. Excerpted from The Bible for Today's Christian Woman, CEV, pages 1443-1444. Used by permission. For reprint information call 630-260-6200.