June 24th
Love your wife as Christ loves the Church.
Ephesians 5:22-28
English Standard Version (ESV)
Wives and Husbands
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
As I write this I am less than two weeks from my fifth wedding anniversary with my wife Diana. Diana and I have been through a lot in five years. We, like everyone else have been on a roller coaster of a marriage within the last five years. One thing that has remained during our marriage is our immense love of Jesus Christ. I will be completely honest right here and now and say that if it wasn’t for that constant love of Jesus in our marriage it wouldn’t have lasted six months. Thank God, He had a different plan for us.
In March 2011 Diana and I had been having a rough couple of months. We had been bickering over some very dumb things, saying hurtful things to one another, and were just generally in a bad place in our marriage. A lot of what we were going through was the lack of a home Church to attend. We had been searching for many, many months, and had all but given up on our search. Then the signs came, ok I am not being funny! The signs really came! There were all these signs popping up all over town about a new Church coming to our home town, Elevation Community Church. We wrote down the website, went home and did some research. Our next step was to talk to the pastor, so we contacted Pastor Craig Knisley and got the 411 on all of the upcoming events. Grand Opening was less than two weeks away at this point. We had not been this excited in a long time. They had a carnival night set up two Saturdays before the Grand Opening, so I decided I was going to take my daughter to this event. We had a wonderful time. Diana and my son Austin were unable to attend this event so it was just me and Julie. The next morning Julie and I decided we wanted to check out the church service as well, and we loved it. I met Diana later that day, and told her instantly that we had found our home. I was that confident that she would absolutely fall in love with this church and never want to leave.
Flash forward a month or so later: Now we are at April 2011. We are getting really involved at Elevation, and still loving every minute. One problem, we were still kind of at each other’s throats. Then we found out that Elevation was having a marriage seminar. I had wanted to do this for quite some time, but Diana was not on board as much as I was. We had discussed it several times, but we never did make it. This time was different, we felt like we were comfortable enough to attend this one and share whatever we needed to with whomever we needed to. This seminar turned out to be a HUGE turning point in our marriage.
They spoke repeatedly on the verse that I have posted for today’s devotional and we had heard it hundreds of times, but it never sank in quite the way that it did this time. We actually took the time to learn what it meant this time.
Men I will share with you what I have learned from this and I hope you can heed these words carefully and guard them close to your heart as I have. This verse clearly states that we are to love our wives as Jesus loved the church. Let’s think of the ways that Jesus loved the church.
He loved the disciples so much that He taught them through parables on a daily basis.
He loved Mary Magdalene a known prostitute as much as He loved His own Mother.
He loved Lazarus like a brother and went to his dead corpse days after it had begun to smell and resurrected him back to life.
He loved people He didn’t even know the blind, the lame, the deaf, and the dead. The Bible says that “Jesus is God in human flesh” and the Bible says “God is love”. If you have Jesus in your heart that means that love is in your heart not only for your family, but also for the Church. This verse tells us to “Love you wife as Christ loved the Church”.
Ask yourself a question, but be honest when you answer yourself. Have I loved my wife that way? Have I led her as Christ led the disciples? Have I been willing so far in my marriage to lay down my life for her, and to protect her from sin?
Gentlemen, I can honestly say that before that seminar if I would have answered “yes” to any one of those questions I would have been lying through my teeth. BUT, I can proudly say now that the answer to those questions is emphatically “YES”.
Ok Ladies, now it is your turn. Men, don’t lean back in your chair and think I am done with you either! I have much more to say to you.
This verse clearly depicts that “wives are to submit to their husbands”. Let’s take a deeper look at what the word “submit” means in this context.
The definition of submit in the context used in the Bible is the voluntary attitude of giving in, of cooperating, of sharing a burden. In other words, when the word “submit” is used in the Bible, it refers not only to a yielding and obedient attitude of the heart, but also, and equally importantly, to an attitude of cooperation and support.
Ladies, are you yielding and obedient to your husband’s guidance? Do you cooperate with him instead of butting heads with him about every little detail? Do you support him in everything he decides to do, or the paths he as leader of your home chooses to go?
Gentleman let’s get back to you for a moment. Are you leading your wife in the way that makes it easier for her to submit to you?
My wife will outright tell you that when I am leading her Spiritually on a daily basis that this is when it is the easiest for her to submit to me and to follow me. I really like the term “a voluntary attitude of cooperation and support”. My wife gets an A+ at this, she has always been very supportive, and now she is being cooperative as well.
Being submissive is not about being a slave or a doormat; it is about being the helper that God gave Adam in Eve in the Garden of Eden.
It sure does make life a whole lot easier when husbands and wives are doing as God has called them to do in their respective marriages.
Today’s Challenge:
Read this verse together with your spouse.
Men: Ask your wives what you can do to love her better, and/or what you can do to lead her better.
Women: Respect your husband’s God given authority over your marriage, and let him know how much you support him in your marriage.
Love your wife as Christ loves the Church.
Ephesians 5:22-28
English Standard Version (ESV)
Wives and Husbands
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
As I write this I am less than two weeks from my fifth wedding anniversary with my wife Diana. Diana and I have been through a lot in five years. We, like everyone else have been on a roller coaster of a marriage within the last five years. One thing that has remained during our marriage is our immense love of Jesus Christ. I will be completely honest right here and now and say that if it wasn’t for that constant love of Jesus in our marriage it wouldn’t have lasted six months. Thank God, He had a different plan for us.
In March 2011 Diana and I had been having a rough couple of months. We had been bickering over some very dumb things, saying hurtful things to one another, and were just generally in a bad place in our marriage. A lot of what we were going through was the lack of a home Church to attend. We had been searching for many, many months, and had all but given up on our search. Then the signs came, ok I am not being funny! The signs really came! There were all these signs popping up all over town about a new Church coming to our home town, Elevation Community Church. We wrote down the website, went home and did some research. Our next step was to talk to the pastor, so we contacted Pastor Craig Knisley and got the 411 on all of the upcoming events. Grand Opening was less than two weeks away at this point. We had not been this excited in a long time. They had a carnival night set up two Saturdays before the Grand Opening, so I decided I was going to take my daughter to this event. We had a wonderful time. Diana and my son Austin were unable to attend this event so it was just me and Julie. The next morning Julie and I decided we wanted to check out the church service as well, and we loved it. I met Diana later that day, and told her instantly that we had found our home. I was that confident that she would absolutely fall in love with this church and never want to leave.
Flash forward a month or so later: Now we are at April 2011. We are getting really involved at Elevation, and still loving every minute. One problem, we were still kind of at each other’s throats. Then we found out that Elevation was having a marriage seminar. I had wanted to do this for quite some time, but Diana was not on board as much as I was. We had discussed it several times, but we never did make it. This time was different, we felt like we were comfortable enough to attend this one and share whatever we needed to with whomever we needed to. This seminar turned out to be a HUGE turning point in our marriage.
They spoke repeatedly on the verse that I have posted for today’s devotional and we had heard it hundreds of times, but it never sank in quite the way that it did this time. We actually took the time to learn what it meant this time.
Men I will share with you what I have learned from this and I hope you can heed these words carefully and guard them close to your heart as I have. This verse clearly states that we are to love our wives as Jesus loved the church. Let’s think of the ways that Jesus loved the church.
He loved the disciples so much that He taught them through parables on a daily basis.
He loved Mary Magdalene a known prostitute as much as He loved His own Mother.
He loved Lazarus like a brother and went to his dead corpse days after it had begun to smell and resurrected him back to life.
He loved people He didn’t even know the blind, the lame, the deaf, and the dead. The Bible says that “Jesus is God in human flesh” and the Bible says “God is love”. If you have Jesus in your heart that means that love is in your heart not only for your family, but also for the Church. This verse tells us to “Love you wife as Christ loved the Church”.
Ask yourself a question, but be honest when you answer yourself. Have I loved my wife that way? Have I led her as Christ led the disciples? Have I been willing so far in my marriage to lay down my life for her, and to protect her from sin?
Gentlemen, I can honestly say that before that seminar if I would have answered “yes” to any one of those questions I would have been lying through my teeth. BUT, I can proudly say now that the answer to those questions is emphatically “YES”.
Ok Ladies, now it is your turn. Men, don’t lean back in your chair and think I am done with you either! I have much more to say to you.
This verse clearly depicts that “wives are to submit to their husbands”. Let’s take a deeper look at what the word “submit” means in this context.
The definition of submit in the context used in the Bible is the voluntary attitude of giving in, of cooperating, of sharing a burden. In other words, when the word “submit” is used in the Bible, it refers not only to a yielding and obedient attitude of the heart, but also, and equally importantly, to an attitude of cooperation and support.
Ladies, are you yielding and obedient to your husband’s guidance? Do you cooperate with him instead of butting heads with him about every little detail? Do you support him in everything he decides to do, or the paths he as leader of your home chooses to go?
Gentleman let’s get back to you for a moment. Are you leading your wife in the way that makes it easier for her to submit to you?
My wife will outright tell you that when I am leading her Spiritually on a daily basis that this is when it is the easiest for her to submit to me and to follow me. I really like the term “a voluntary attitude of cooperation and support”. My wife gets an A+ at this, she has always been very supportive, and now she is being cooperative as well.
Being submissive is not about being a slave or a doormat; it is about being the helper that God gave Adam in Eve in the Garden of Eden.
It sure does make life a whole lot easier when husbands and wives are doing as God has called them to do in their respective marriages.
Today’s Challenge:
Read this verse together with your spouse.
Men: Ask your wives what you can do to love her better, and/or what you can do to lead her better.
Women: Respect your husband’s God given authority over your marriage, and let him know how much you support him in your marriage.
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