Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
Colossians 3:19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
A husband's duty is to love his wife. I can only find one verse in the Bible that instructs wives to love their husbands. So, as a husband I need to realise what this means in order to fulfill my duties. Of course it is easy to 'love' someone if they are perfect and cute. But nobody's perfect and not everyone stays cute forever. I heard once that the reason why babies are so cute is because if they weren't, it would be quite difficult to care for them. Anyway, back to the matter of love. The second part of the verse in Ephesians gives a very clear example and model of what love is and how a husband is to love his wife.
To start with, God gave us the marriage institution as a picture of Christ and the church. So, what did Christ do and how does he love the church. Well, as the son of God, he gave up all that he had and came down on earth to suffer and die to pay for our sins. Rising again, he defeated the power of death and hell. Ok, now this is the 'romantic' part. He did this to win us back to God. The next verse tells the story.
Ephesians 5:26,27 ...to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any blemish, but holy and blameless.
So basically, Christ did everything! Being one who believes in chivalry, I do think that husbands ought to do things for their wives (even though they may be totally capable of doing it themselves sometimes!). Of course in the case of Christ and the church, we were totally lost and condemned and unable to help ourselves but he came and sacrificed himself in order to win us over. And it is because of that that we love him.
1John 4:19. We love because he first loved us.
Now back to how that helps me love my wife. If I were to take the example from Christ, then considering how much he sacrificed for our sake, I should do the same. Basically, it is having Cheryl's best interest at heart. It is an unselfish love. One that is very hard to practise and can only be done with God's grace. Totally unlike the kind of 'love' that we see in the world today where everything is about 'what's in it for me'. Don't even get me started on prenups and divorce. Whatever happened to 'for better or for worse'? These days, as soon as it's a little rough, couples bail out. I remember once, a number of years ago, after Cheryl had done something silly. I looked at her, gave a big sigh and said, "for better or worse". Looking back at me, in feigned seriousness, gave a bigger sigh and replied, "for richer or poorer". We had a good laugh over that.
As long as we're on this earth, in this sinful body, we are presently and practically imperfect (some seem more imperfect then others! haha). And we will often grieve our Lord and stray away from him. How often we have been disobedient and rebellious. But his love is such that he continues to love us and only desires what is best for us.
So husbands, love your wives. Never lose that tender and manja connection with them. Think of their interests above yours. Give in to them and put your ego aside (unless it is a matter which is wrong principally). Take the lead as the head of the family unit and lead them gently. Constantly look to the Lord for guidance and remember, if Christ is our example, there is no sacrifice that can match his...
and hopefully, she'll love you back... but even if she doesn't, your duty is still to love her...
1 Peter 3:7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
Colossians 3:19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
A husband's duty is to love his wife. I can only find one verse in the Bible that instructs wives to love their husbands. So, as a husband I need to realise what this means in order to fulfill my duties. Of course it is easy to 'love' someone if they are perfect and cute. But nobody's perfect and not everyone stays cute forever. I heard once that the reason why babies are so cute is because if they weren't, it would be quite difficult to care for them. Anyway, back to the matter of love. The second part of the verse in Ephesians gives a very clear example and model of what love is and how a husband is to love his wife.
To start with, God gave us the marriage institution as a picture of Christ and the church. So, what did Christ do and how does he love the church. Well, as the son of God, he gave up all that he had and came down on earth to suffer and die to pay for our sins. Rising again, he defeated the power of death and hell. Ok, now this is the 'romantic' part. He did this to win us back to God. The next verse tells the story.
Ephesians 5:26,27 ...to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any blemish, but holy and blameless.
So basically, Christ did everything! Being one who believes in chivalry, I do think that husbands ought to do things for their wives (even though they may be totally capable of doing it themselves sometimes!). Of course in the case of Christ and the church, we were totally lost and condemned and unable to help ourselves but he came and sacrificed himself in order to win us over. And it is because of that that we love him.
1John 4:19. We love because he first loved us.
Now back to how that helps me love my wife. If I were to take the example from Christ, then considering how much he sacrificed for our sake, I should do the same. Basically, it is having Cheryl's best interest at heart. It is an unselfish love. One that is very hard to practise and can only be done with God's grace. Totally unlike the kind of 'love' that we see in the world today where everything is about 'what's in it for me'. Don't even get me started on prenups and divorce. Whatever happened to 'for better or for worse'? These days, as soon as it's a little rough, couples bail out. I remember once, a number of years ago, after Cheryl had done something silly. I looked at her, gave a big sigh and said, "for better or worse". Looking back at me, in feigned seriousness, gave a bigger sigh and replied, "for richer or poorer". We had a good laugh over that.
As long as we're on this earth, in this sinful body, we are presently and practically imperfect (some seem more imperfect then others! haha). And we will often grieve our Lord and stray away from him. How often we have been disobedient and rebellious. But his love is such that he continues to love us and only desires what is best for us.
So husbands, love your wives. Never lose that tender and manja connection with them. Think of their interests above yours. Give in to them and put your ego aside (unless it is a matter which is wrong principally). Take the lead as the head of the family unit and lead them gently. Constantly look to the Lord for guidance and remember, if Christ is our example, there is no sacrifice that can match his...
and hopefully, she'll love you back... but even if she doesn't, your duty is still to love her...
1 Peter 3:7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
1 comment:
Awhh....so sweet..
If oni every husband thinks d same way esp bout d manja connection thingy...
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