The Loving Husband

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

THE LOVING HUSBAND

Eph 5:21-33

21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."   32 This is a profound mystery — but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

NIV

Ultimately, this all is about Christ and His church, nevertheless, it is also about the relationship within our earthly marriages. It is an interesting thought that Paul assumes that a man and a woman are to be married unless he is just using that example to explain the relationship between the Bride of Christ, the church, and its husband, Christ. However, this example is still instructions we can apply to our human relationships between husband and wife. Having spent some time looking at a wife who submits to her husband in everything, as an example of how the church must submit to Christ in everything, which is going to take some time to explore, we should look into the responsibilities of the husband. We husbands are to love our wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. There is more, but first, let us think about how this love we must have for our wives is played out in real life. How do we give ourselves up for our wives? Are we responsible for making her holy, cleansing her by the washing of water through the word? Surely, we cannot make our wives without stain of wrinkle or any blemish, holy and blameless, yet in a sense, we have this awesome privilege to be self-sacrificing putting the needs of our wives ahead of ourselves. In addition, we have the God-given task to be the head of the family, leading them in the ways of the Lord. We are the priests in our family, we cannot abdicate that position for God has given that place in the family to us. It is our responsibility to lead our wives to the spring of living water, to demonstrate the love of God toward them. God has joined us together to be one flesh, one person, acting as one person, a union that cannot be broken, and yet that union still requires there is a head and that is the man who loves his wife just as Christ loves the church. It does seem in this current culture that the relationship between many marriages is topsy-turvy with the wife making the major decisions in the marriage. Yes, we are partners and that means discussions about what we do, where we live, rearing our children, balancing careers and home life as well as any other major and minor situations. However, the ultimate burden falls on the shoulders of the husband for God holds him accountable for his family. It all comes down to how we husbands must love our wives as Christ loved the church.