Marriage is a lot like a house with curb appeal. When you first start out things are new and exciting, you have a great curb appeal. You finally have that love that you had dreamed about your entire life. However, overtime a neglected marriage can lose that appeal and desirability. Let’s take a look at 3 attributes of a desirable marriage from I Peter 3:1-7 and learn how to get that “Curb Appeal” back.  Learn how to make your marriage better by applying the principles of God’s Word.
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Curb Appeal
Curb appeal is the first impression of a property as seen from the street. It creates the wow factor and it makes the house stand out from others in the neighborhood. When a house has curb appeal it increases its value, makes it easier to sell, and it becomes a point of pride. In order to add curb appeal, you can do things like install new landscaping, clean the driveway, or even paint the front door. The point is to make your house more desirable. Overtime, a house just loses that curb appeal as the driveway cracks, the paint fades, and the lawn becomes overgrown.
Marriage is a lot like a house with curb appeal. When you first start out things are new and exciting. You finally have that love that you had dreamed about your entire life. However, overtime a neglected marriage can lose that appeal and desirability. Let’s take a look at 3 attributes of a desirable marriage from I Peter 3:1-7 and learn how to get that “Curb Appeal” back.
The Attitude of a Wife in a Desirable Marriage ( I Peter 3:1-2)
Submission is more powerful than control.
Society has a wrong view of this principle.
Society has pushed on us the idea that men and women are the same, this is wrong and the Bible has it right. In a Christian marriage, both spouses submit to one another (see Ephesians 5:21), but there is a specific instruction to the wife. She is to allow her husband to take the role of leader in the home. Just like Christ is the head of the Church, the husband is the head of the wife. This does not make the wife less important or inadequate, but it does provide a framework for the structure of a Bible marriage. Submission is an attitude of the heart and requires your willingness. It is not like a wrestling match where you finally give in and submit to a superior opponent. You voluntary give yourself and and your will to your husband. God created men and women differently with these roles in mind.
The feminist movement has pushed their agenda so hard that this Bible concept seems foreign to us today but it is still just as relevant as it was when it was penned some 2000 years ago! Submission is a powerful thing in marriage and will accomplish more than trying to control your husband. You may be laughing to yourself right now, but the Bible is right and if you implement this into your marriage it will change everything!
Many Fundamentalists have a wrong view of this principle.
Some self proclaimed fundamentalists (I am a fundamentalist by the way) also have this teaching wrong. They use these words to justify treating women poorly. They use language that is coarse and ugly when referring to them, language that Christ would never use about the Church. These misguided men reduce their women to servants, who conveniently should give them everything they want when they want. This is not what God intended, Christ would never treat the Church that way. In fact, the command to a husband is to “love” his wife, not to dominate her. Peter uses these words, “To your own husband”, so the principle of the wife submitting to her husband does not mean that all women everywhere should be dominated by men- it means that she should have a submissive heart and will toward her husband. This is the secret ingredient to marriage.
Behavior “preaches” better than words.