Our battle plan is simply this: Submitting ourselves to everything God is, everything His heart stands for, and everything He has created us to be, then resisting the enemy and foiling his wicked plans. ("Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7.)
The strategy of 1 Peter 3:3 is just like what Jesus did when He came to this earth. He dressed Himself in the garments of humility and did things so backwards and upside down! He positioned Himself to be the exact opposite of everything this world is all about.
The world says a woman's beauty comes from the outside. God says it comes from the inside.
The world says a woman's utmost concern should be looking out for herself. God says her highest concern should be living selflessly, defending and protecting, uplifting and cherishing those around her.
The world says a woman's power is in her physical features. God says it is in her humility, when she “entrusts herself to the one who judges justly.”
(1 Peter2:23)
The world will consume. We will give.
The world will be jealous, and tear apart their sisters. We will build one another up in love.
The world will say it’s so hopeless. We will say saving one life is totally worth it.
The world says to freak out and worry. We only have absolute peace.
The world says to take matters concerning “finding true love” into our own hands, and push to make something happen. We only wait for God's perfect timing.
The world says one human is worth less than another. We will declare that each life was worth the blood of Jesus.
This pattern of backwards, upside down, inside out living, is like swimming upstream. It is not easy. But when we submit to God, declare His Words and His ways to be true as gold, setting an example for our little sisters, it is just like what Jesus did. It is the secret weapon of humility. If we can do this, we will be like dynamite in the hand of our God! Like small stones in the sling of David, the ugly giant will come down.
Princess Sisters, we must learn the secret and walk in the unfathomable power of being faithful and obedient in small, seemingly insignificant things. These things might be some of which the world will laugh and scoff at...but these little droplets of rain will suddenly create a storm! storm.
Don't Give Way to Fear
1 Peter 3:5 continues,
“For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.”
Isn't that interesting, that Peter stresses, “do not give way to fear.”
Why? Because this kind of 1 Peter 3:3 Princess-Living doesn't work if our knees collapse in fear.
So many young ladies conform to the world’s idea of what a strong, powerful, beautiful woman is...because they are afraid of entrusting themselves to God and living with such silly, carefree, childlike faith.
Sometimes we act out of fear and insecurity thinking, “If I wait, I will never find my Prince Charming...I'm getting old. I need to make it happen. I need to help him along, I need to give him a hint. I need to wear more revealing clothes, so I get more attention."
Or we battle thoughts like this, "I need to ignore the smelly kid by the trash cans, because I might lose some good friendships if they see me with him. I need to buy myself a new pair of jeans, instead of feeding a child in Africa, because I'll look so uncool if I only have three pairs, when all my friends have like twenty. I need to do what my parents want me to do with my life, instead of following my God-given dreams, because I'm so afraid of what might happen. I can't witness to my friends, because they might hate me.
I can't wear a modest bathing suit to the pool, because my friends will laugh at me. I just can't wait for my future husband, because I feel like he's never coming. I can't NOT worry about this thing, because it seems so irresponsible! I can't trade my Saturday night with my girls to read the Word and be alone with God, because that's the only "me" time I have all week.”