Journal: Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Volume: JBMW 20:1 (Spring 2015)
Article: God’s Design For Marriage: Celebrating The Beauty Of Gender Roles In 1 Peter 3:1-7
Author: Matthew Barrett

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JBMW 20:1 (Spring 2015) p. 59

God’s Design For Marriage: Celebrating The Beauty Of Gender Roles In 1 Peter 3:1-7

Matthew Barrett

Senior Pastor
Fellowship Baptist Church
Assistant Professor of Christian Studies
California Baptist University
Riverside, California

Historians have often said that Jonathan Edwards was the greatest American philosopher-theologian of the eighteenth-century.1 However, what sometimes goes unnoticed is that we can only say this about him because behind this man was a remarkable woman, Sarah Edwards.

Certainly the title of Noël Piper’s book captures the character and life of Sarah Edwards: Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God.2

Though brilliant and godly, Jonathan could be a difficult man to live with. He was often deep in thought; his moods could be intense as he sometimes became discouraged by his own sinfulness, and because of his pastoral responsibilities he needed to spend the majority of his day studying. Sarah, however, did everything in her power to make sure their home was a happy one for Jonathan. Over time, Sarah gained quite a reputation for just how well she raised her children in the things of the Lord. Her responsibilities were innumerable. Not only did she bear the weight of raising eleven children, but she was also responsible for the upkeep of the household and the family’s land, not to mention the care of interns and other guests who sometimes lived in their house in order to visit with and learn from Jonathan.

George Whitefield, arguably the most famous preacher of the Great Awakening, said this after staying at their home:

Felt wonderful satisfaction in being at the house of Mr. Edwards. He is a Son himself, and hath also a Daughter of Abraham for his wife. A sweeter couple I have not yet

JBMW 20:1 (Spring 2015) p. 60

seen. Their children were dressed not in silks and satins, but plain, as becomes the children of those who, in all things ought to be examples of Christian simplicity. She is a woman adorned with a meek and quiet spirit, talked feelingly and solidly of the Things of God, and seemed to be such a help meet for her husband, that she caused me to renew those prayers, which, for many months, I have put up to God, that he would be pleased to send me a daughter of Abraham to be my wife.3

Sarah was a wife who stood by her husband through thick and thin. There were times when finances were incredibly tight and the church did not provide their family with the income they desired. When Jonathan w...

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