Our Scripture reading today is Ephesians 5:33, "Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband."
A good portion of this chapter is comparing the relationship of marriage with that of Jesus Christ and His church. The love of the husband for his wife is to be on par with the love that Jesus Christ has for the church. I am quite confident we would see a revival in our marriages and in our churches if husbands loved their wives as much as they loved themselves. Husbands are to be the love leader in the home. We are to follow the example given to us by the Lord Jesus. “He is given the position of dignity and of leadership and of headship; and if he understands what it means he will never abuse it, he will never misuse it, by being harsh or dictatorial or unkind or unfair. To be guilty of such behaviour is a denial of the marriage principle, and means that there is an absence of the Spirit.” (Lloyd-Jones)
In addition to the husbands love for this wife, the Apostle Paul points out the responsibility of the wife to submit to and reverence (respect) her husband. “The wife is to treat her husband with deference; in other words, she is to recognize this biblical and Christian view of marriage, she is to regard the husband as her head, the head of this new unit. They are both one, but there is a head to the unit, as there is a head to our body, as Christ is the Head of the church.” (Lloyd-Jones)
If you want to help your marriage, stop checking to see if your spouse is living up to his or her marriage vows and start making sure you are. If both spouses have this attitude, we will have marriages that honour and glorify God. “The supreme thing always is to consider our Lord Jesus Christ. If a husband and wife are together considering Him, you need have no worry about their relationship to each other.” (Lloyd-Jones)
Have a wonderful day.
Pastor
P. S. How about a morning smooch before you get too far into your day??