LEARNING DAILY

 

Ephesians 5:25, Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,

 

It has happened. I think we knew it was going to. Saturday, my grandson proposed to the love of his life. She said yes. Now, I am just grandpa, but I had to give him a piece of advice. I told him he needed to look up what the Bible said about how a husband needed to love his wife. Okay, I said something else. I told him that Jesus needed to always be at the center of their lives and marriage.

 

As we were eating, I was asked, “Grandpa, how did you propose to grandma?” I had to laugh a little because there were no elaborate proposals at the time. Since this is my story, I can only answer the question as I remember. I replied that Grandma and I talked about marriage, went to the jewelry store, picked out some rings, and put them on lay away. Since she was attending a different college than me, I waited until she was coming to visit for the weekend (and the rings were paid for) to get them and surprised her with them while she was there. That was it – just the two of us. That was 56 years ago!

 

How does a husband love his wife as Christ loved the church? I bet husbands would say that this is more difficult than it sounds. Husbands your love for your wife is not to be based on her fulfilling a particular role(s) you have set in your mind. Jesus loves the Church unconditionally and sacrificially. Jesus loved His bride, the Church; He sacrificed His life for His bride. The husband must be willing to do the same for his wife. Selfishness and self-centeredness can be fatal to a marriage.

 

I made plenty of mistakes when we were first married! Being young, I did not think about helping and doing what I could around the house. A few “encouraging” words from my wife helped me to better understand that helping was good. Jesus said in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” To love your wife does not mean you lord it over her but to willing help her. Jesus is a great example! This simply means the husband needs to set aside his own interests when the opportunity to serve His wife comes about. Jesus was never too busy to listen to others. He was never distracted, never uninterested; He is always willing to hear our prayers and do good. (I have a lot of work to do!) Jesus is never too busy checking on his phone, never too busy with hobbies. He is always present, always caring, always attentive and faithful to His bride.

 

Let me share something I believe is important for every husband who wants to love their wife as Christ loves His bride. Husband you must be saturated, washed in the Word of God. Verse 26 states a husband is to “cleanse his wife with the washing of water by the Word”. A marriage with Christ at the center of it is shaped by the Word of God. That means reading and studying God’s Word together, praying together and worshipping together.

 

Paul’s writing for husbands is quite a high standard for the love a husband is to show his wife. The love of a husband must be a deep, lifelong commitment and the willingness to make any sacrifices necessary on her behalf. This standard could be and needs to be applied among Christian husbands today.