Ephesians 5:25 - Love Your Wife as Yourself

        Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross showed his passionate love for each of us.  He gave up His life for his people, His dear children.  Jesus knows our hearts all too well, yet He loves us and died for our sins so that we may be glorious and pure - without a spot, wrinkle, or any other blemish.  Men, let’s love our wives that much.  May we sacrifice and love our wives to the high standard that Jesus sets for us.

        Part of my story, a key reason that I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, is because I read in the back of a small Gideons Bible that Jesus loved me.  That blew my mind.  How could the God of the Universe love a wretched little sinner like me?  It still overwhelms me to this day.  Love in action is powerful.

        I was raised with a great example of love in action.  My dad put love into action and loved Mom by word and deed.  Mom is as enamored by Dad today as she was sixty years ago.  They very much love and respect each other.  As they fast approach 60 years of marriage I am still impressed at Mom and Dad's love for each other and their excellent example.

        I pray that men of our modern churches worldwide are characterized by our love for others, but specifically, as this chapter says, by loving our wives as ourselves.  When our kids think of us may we be known for how we loved our wives.  Let’s imitate Jesus.  Let us be strong men, strong with God’s wisdom, and let us lead with love.

        How on earth does God love sinners like us?  And how do we, as God’s children love those who sin against us?  By God’s amazing grace.  That’s what knits and holds His family together.

        The Bible tells us that there is not one single person on earth who is always good and never sins (Ecclesiastes 7:20).  That same chapter explains that “God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path” (Ecclesiastes 7:29).  Oh, our human condition!

        My wife and I started dating when I was 16.  I’ve known her for almost forty years now.  I think of my wife as a better person than myself - and rightly so.  She’s loyal and honest.  She’s kind.  She’s inclined to help people make peace with each other.  She’s industrious, organized, hard-working, creative, and she’s a great friend.  Making and keeping friends is her forte.  Of course, she’s grown since she became a Christian and I can see how the Holy Spirit has gifted her after she became a follower of Christ.

        Know how important it is to be a servant leader and to love your wife as Jesus expects.  Every person, even your fantastic wife, is a sinner.  Just like you and me.  King Solomon wisely tells us that we’d be hard-pressed to find one man in a thousand who is virtuous (Ecclesiastes 7:28).  We are all sinners.  And we are loved by God.

        The responsibility in this passage is for you and me, as Christian husbands, to take up the responsibility God gives us.  If we believe that Christ is the head of the church as this passage says then that must mean something.  It must impact how we respond to God’s instructions for how important it is to love our wives well.

        This passage implores us to look at how Jesus loved the church and made the church holy.  God makes sinners pure - through His love and sacrifice.  Our wives are made holy the same way we are - through faith in Jesus Christ.  But we are the servant leaders of our families.  And we have a responsibility to love our wives to the standard that God gives us here.  We love sacrificially.  Know very well that your wife is a sinner and that she needs to be loved encouraged and protected.  Expect the best of your wife and look at her the way Jesus does - without criticism.  Love her unconditionally.  

        Men, how we treat our wives and lead our families will have an eternal impact.  Praise God, for He gives us insight, encouragement, and instruction in His word.  We are to love and care for our wives with wisdom.  Do that today.  Your wife loves you and respects you.  And she needs you to serve well.  Thank God that He is the giver of every good gift.

        Relationships that revere Christ flourish.  There are a lot of examples of bad marriages out there.  It ought to be much better in the Church.  Sadly, we see critical, neglectful husbands and often nagging, domineering wives.  None of that is biblical.  The biblical standard is much higher. Christian men and women must have much more respect for each other.  Consider what God has done for us.  He presents his church without even a wrinkle.  No blemish and no fault!  We are above reproach because of what Jesus did on the cross.  We need to honor Him and act like it.

        Only God can provide a good understanding wife.  And a wise godly wife is a gift from God (Ecclesiastes 10:9).

        Thank you Father God for your church, for your great mystery of how men and women are united in marriage into one (5:31) as the church is united with Jesus Christ.  May the men of the Church step up and follow Jesus’ example today.  Amen.

Fall in Virginia.