25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. 28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. 29 No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. 30 And we are members of his body.
31 As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” 32 This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. 33 So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Terrie's Comments:
I have to say many are offended about the first part... wives submit to your husbands... but I have not met a wife yet that would hesitate to submit to a husband that loved them the way that Jesus loves the church. And I would be willing to wager that the opposite is true ... that if a wife submitted to her husband in this way that he would have an easier time loving her unselfishly. Both rolls are hard... both are not supposed to be conditional on the other.... they are to be unconditional, no matter what.
If Jesus loved us the way that most marriages operate today we would all be going to Hell. There would be no redemption and no hope. Our marriages are supposed to be a reflection to the world of how Jesus loves his bride, the church.
Tori's Comments:
We give God every part of ourselves, including marriage. The beliefs and ideals around marriage make it seem like it promises you happiness, contentment, and fulfillment when in reality marriage like God intended has less to do with ourselves and more to do with God's glory.
Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please keep all comments respectful. We want to remember that each of us is at a different place in our walk with God. This is a place for us to share openly about what has been revealed to us as we open up Gods word and to learn from others. Please take every opportunity possible to build each other up in love :-)