She Called Him Lord

I was browsing through my draft folder where I'd left some links under the heading Daughters of Sarah. I can't remember if I read the articles fully when they first caught my attention.  It's always good to review.  :-)

1Pe 3:6 Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.

The article by Pyromaniacs raised the question:  When (in Scripture) did Sarah call Abraham Lord? Indeed, where? The only reference the author could find was this:

Gen 18:12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

Which isn't speaking out loud, but rather 'within' herself. This is a challenge, not just for married women, but all saints. The battleground is indeed the mind, for what we dwell on inwardly manifests itself outwardly.

Quoting from the article:

"The lesson I find here is that the fountainhead is the heart, the mind, the center of thought and decision. From the heart flow the springs of life (Proverbs 4:23). If a woman wants to be a godly wife, this is where she must focus her consistent, prayerful, strenuous attention. She must focus on how she thinks about her husband. She must attend to and police the thoughts she indulges, and the attitudes in which she marinates."

So ladies...what are you 'marinating' in your mind?  About your husband, family, employer, situation, circumstances, etc.?

We're all guilty of thinking about something, mulling it over, either a word said (or something we'd LIKE to say) or 'working' something out and the sometimes negative impact it can have on relationships or situations.  Then there is the question of well, do I ever get a chance to 'vent' to talk things out, to have confidence when things are troubling me?  How do we balance godly counsel without it becoming gossip or tearing someone down?

I'm wondering how much stress and strife could be avoided in relationships if we truly philtered our thoughts.  Yes, I used philter, as in:

Php 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Relationships (whether marriage or other) isn't easy, especially if we expect perfection from one another.  Sarah definitely knew Abraham wasn't perfect, yet she still respected him. What thoughts are we allowing in our minds about others?  How respectful are we inwardly?

I recommend not only the article by Pyromaniacs, but another one he referenced, My Path To Women's Ministry.  I don't know anything about the author, or what her women's ministry is; however she relates in the article how challenged a roomful of women who were cackling about their husbands.  Out of the abundance of the heart, words (and actions) follow.

I leave us with this admonition:

Rom 12:1-2  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.