REGARDING YOUR MARRIAGE

Today, I would like to speak to the husbands out there….regarding your marriage.

Now, speaking from experience let me say that my wife, Terri, and I have a wonderful marriage. I mean, after all, she is married to a pretty incredible guy….at least that’s what I keep telling her. But what works best in our marriage is the fact that Terri is an Ephesians wife, based on the scripture from Ephesians 5: 22-24. She has given herself to me in submission as an act of obedience to the Father….and I; I am committed to her as a husband that is to love his wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. It is no small wonder that so many marriages seem to be facing rocky roads in these difficult and terrifying days. The Bible tells us exactly how we are to love and treat each other, but we don’t read the scriptures like we should and when we do; we fail to follow their godly instructions.

In Ephesians, Paul first admonishes the wife to submit herself to her husband, “For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.” He then goes on in the very next verses to say, “Husbands love your wives as Christ love the church and gave himself for her.” And in verse 28-29, “In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.”

It is easy to see why Paul put the verses about a submissive wife first….she that is submissive is easier to love….but he never said that if she is not submissive this would in someway relieve the husband from his mandate to love his wife as he loves himself. If she submits, she is following biblical teaching, but if she does not, you’re to do what Christ would do for His church….love her UNCONDITIONALLY.

That’s a word that strikes fear into the heart of most men…unconditionally, without reservations. My love for Terri is not to be based on what she does for me …but rather, who she is….MY WIFE. And I am to love her, cherish her, protect her, empower her, admonish her, extol her, comfort her and be willing to give myself in any manner simply because she is my gift, my blessing from God.

Do you love your wife unconditionally and are you treating her in a way that shows how much you value her as your life-long mate? I hope that you’re not in the same boat as the examples that follow. Enjoy the levity that these provide, but if, by some remote chance, you find your self identifying with one of the husbands in these capulets…..IT’S TIME TO MAKE A CHANGE….love your wife with all your heart, body, mind and soul….YOU’LL BOTH BE GLAD YOU DID!!!

Blessed with the Best,
WPQ