Fear is an entirely fitting reaction to frightening things — we would be surprised if someone didn’t respond with fear in the face of the fearsome. And yet, this is exactly what Peter says godly women will not experience. How can this be?
At the core of all godly women, cemented in the soul, there is a simple but steadfast hope in God. It is from the security of this hope that wives fear nothing that is frightening — even submission to husbands who do not follow Jesus. These godly women adorn their souls with a peculiar beauty: not base servility or brash power, but a combination of humility and lion-like courage that the world cannot explain.
The world cannot make women this way. Their beauty comes from somewhere — from someone — else. With their souls beautified by God, Christian women display Jesus in such a way that unbelievers may be won to Christ, even without a word being spoken (1 Peter 3:1).
Look at the Book is John Piper’s latest effort to help teach people to read the Bible for themselves. It’s an ongoing series of 8–12 minute videos in which the camera is on the text, not the teacher.
As part of this initiative, Desiring God is putting on regional events focused on certain passages of Scripture. This is Part 2 in a series on 1 Peter called “Hoping, Singing, and Loving in the Refiner’s Fire.” More parts will be released in the coming weeks.
