Friday, April 25, 2014

Video and Text Devotional - 1 Clement 1 - Blameless, Becoming, and Pure Consciences

Watch the video or read the devotion below.


The last thing that Clement compliments the Corinthians on in 1st Clement 1 is how well they've instructed their young men to be men, and how well they've instructed their women to be good wives.

He says that the Corinthians have done well in teaching young men to be responsible in life, not guys that are always just messing around wasting time, but men that get things done.

Clement then turns his attention to how the Corinthians have taught their wives "to do all things with a blameless, becoming, and pure conscience, loving their husbands as in duty bound; and ye taught them that, living in the rule of obedience, they should manage their household affairs becomingly, and be in every respect marked by discretion."

Let's look at some of those qualities that Clement finds praiseworthy in the Corinthian Christian women.  They had blameless, becoming, and pure consciences. These women knew that they were living the right way and they had clean hearts and minds while they did it. They had no regrets, no impure thoughts or desires. They were pure, just as they should be in every way - becoming.

Secondly, they loved their husbands "as in duty bound" and lived under the "rule of obedience". Now, Clement's really showing his old-fashioned, male chauvinism here, isn't he? "Duty bound"? "Rule of obedience"?

And yet the women had "blameless, becoming, and pure" consciences. The women were happy living like this. They had no desire to change it. Would they have been as happy fighting their husbands, nitpicking their husbands, talking against them, resenting them, not living under the rule of obedience? That doesn't make anyone happy.

Simple order is what makes people happy. Young men learning to be serious and responsible. Women learning to be calm and love their husbands "as in duty bound".

Finally, Clement admires how the Corinthian women "manage their household affairs becomingly" and with "discretion". These women are in charge of the house, and they're careful and wise in how they handle things.

I imagine God saying the same thing to Adam and Eve when He gave them the planet. "Here is your household, the world. Manage it becomingly and with discretion". The same responsibility that God gave them, is the responsibility that women have over the home. It's not to be taken lightly, and to do it well shows the quality of a Christian woman.

As Clement has said, let us all find our peaceful places in life and live with "blameless, becoming, and pure" consciences.

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