She, Herself and God
Priscilla: The Perfect Wife Material
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I am breaking with tradition in the way I write She, Herself, and God. Beginning March 2022, there will be additional features: monthly theme, weekly questions to ponder, and a quote to remember from each devotion. And for this month, the discussion is centered on women and patriarchy. If marriage is a union of two people, why is there a greater and a weaker sex? Can a husband and a wife not function as one? Are they not considered each other’s perfect half, which means they are equal?
MONTHLY THEME: Women and Patriarchy
FEATURED VERSE: Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. (Romans 16:3-4, NIV)
My first ever dream in life was to be a wife and a mother. Unfortunately, that dream was shattered when our family left our home church, the conservative Mennonite. Since then, I had been thinking that marriage would no longer be ideal on the outside world; thus, I was unsure whether I still wanted to get married or not, as my Mennonite fairy tale had already ended a long time ago. It is just today that I realize and recognize how my childhood church had regrettably become a form of idolatry deceiving me for so long because I used to believe that an ideal marriage could only exist in a Mennonite setting when in fact, it does exist in any church setting as long as the center of the marriage is Christ Jesus.
This leads me back to the Epistle to the Romans wherein the apostle Paul gave a shout-out to his friends and co-workers in the ministry, Priscilla and Aquila. From our featured verse alone, we can picture this couple as a power couple in the church who might be tagged as relationship goals of younger Christians. Priscilla and Aquila both worked for the Gospel of the kingdom of God as testified by Paul himself. They did not just acknowledge the headship of Jesus in the church; they were part of the body of Christ, who joyfully took on the roles that the Lord gave to them. And Priscilla was probably considered as the perfect wife material that every woman wanted to emulate back then.
Fast forward to today, each of us can be a Priscilla too in case we are already married. In reality, we can be a Priscila even if we are not yet married by being a kingdom worker during our single season, which is the perfect opportunity to establish our identity in Jesus. It does not matter what age we are in, to be honest, because the grace of God is ageless like His love. He can use anyone of us if we will ask Him to. His Holy Spirit can help us know our spiritual gifts and guide us in ministering to others. And He has already given us the perfect Leader that we can follow in the person of our Lord Jesus, the same Person that Priscilla and Aquila had worked for and lived for.
As a woman of God, the main takeaway here is we should not start looking for role models outside or even inside the church if we want to please the Lord and continue walking with Him. The Bible is available for us to read, reflect on, and refer to when it comes to women like Priscilla, who set a perfect example to all Christian ladies. I am not saying though that we should not be inspired by the women in our churches today. However, we should not make them as our main reference because these women are a work in progress like all of us; hence, any mistake they do can cause us to stumble too especially if we have unconsciously made them our idols. Nevertheless, we can journey together as we collectively (1) become Priscillas, (2) find our respective Aquilas, and (3) by the grace of the Lord, have an ideal marriage that is headed by Christ Jesus.
DEVOTIONAL PRAYER:
Father God, we thank You for teaching us through the story of Priscilla what a perfect wife material should be. We know that this world we are living in has set so many standards that keep on changing anyway thus, the confusion sometimes on who we should be looking up to. So thank You for reminding us that our identities as women of God is not about our looks, our careers, and our religions. It is actually all about our relationship with You and what Your Holy Spirit can do in our lives that is evident in our kingdom work. Thank You more for the tandem of Priscilla and Aquila because they serve as the Christian OTP or one true pairing except for the fact that they are not fictional characters. We hope and pray to be like them, who will risk their lives for You and for the Gospel whether we are already married or still waiting for our own Aquila. This we pray in the Name of the ultimate Love of our lives, the true Prince Charming of every bride, and the one and only King of the kingdom of God. Amen.
QUESTIONS TO PONDER:
What would you do if in case the man you love belongs to a different church? Would you change your religious denomination as an act of submitting to him? Or would you rather have him converted to your own religion?
QUOTE TO REMEMBER:
The perfect wife material is married first to Christ Jesus, the Bridegroom of every Christian.
