Honorable Husbands

Two longtime friends met at a class reunion. One turned to the other and asked, "Has your husband lived up to his promises?"

"Oh yes," she answered quickly. "Shortly after we were married, he said that he wasn't good enough for me and has spent the last fifteen years proving it."

What makes a good husband and a husband good? The letter to the Ephesians provides the answer to this critical question: "You husbands must love your wives with the same love that Christ showed the church." At first, that may seem almost impossible. When carefully considered, however, it has great meaning and significance. This love that Paul speaks of has three elements in it: sacrifice, care, and equality.

The sacrificial love mentioned here means that the husband must be willing to give up – even sacrifice, if necessary - his life’s goals for his wife if it is in the best interest of the marriage. Nothing will ever be so important to him that his individual pursuits will overshadow her well-being. His goals will always have her in first place, and he will care for her physical needs as if they were his own – equality. Husbands must love their wives as “Christ loved the church.”

Prayer: Father, May Your Spirit trouble and convict husbands of their primary responsibility: to love their wives as Christ loved the church, and as Scripture requires. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture For Today: Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.