MARRIAGE FOR DUMMIES: HUSBANDS RESPONSE-ABILITY

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.  Eph. 5:25-27

This is probably one of the most weightiest instructions given to husbands regarding their responsibility towards their wife, their treasure, their gift from God, and it's also where we struggle at the most.   Can you believe nowadays there is a business market for DIVORCE CAKES as pictured here?

Let's start at the beginning what does it mean to LOVE YOUR WIFE AS CHRIST LOVED the Church?  Christ whole purpose was to redeem that which was broken through sacrificing His very life for the object that needed to be redeemed.   Your wife (this may come as a surprise to some of you) isn't perfect.  You can't fix her, and Christ doesn't command, or suggest you to try...but He does command you to LOVE her, which means sacrifice, give yourself up, your will, your agenda up to make sure she is held in high esteem.   This means you may have to watch a few LifeTime Movies (ouch.....this hurts me....I have to start doing this personally), you may have to accompany them shopping, or at the Botanical Garden, or even taking vacations to places she'd like to go....but really you are suppose to make her holy (notice it didn't say happy, happy, happy)  by washing her with the WORD.  

HOW?  Well in order for you to wash her, cleanse her with the WORD, this means you have to be leading spiritually in the home.  You have to be leading family devotions, you have to be making her feel secure that you have a good handle on the faith, family, and finances so she can be free to (not spend the money..lol) but to be  the mother, the nurturer, the wife, the friend, the partner he created her to be......when FAITH, the FAMILY, or the FINANCES are the concerns that weigh her down, you won't get to have FUN (if you know what I meant) and your FUTURE is bleak my friend.

SO, what are you to do?  If  you have a tablet, go on Kindle or Nook and download a family devotional and commit to doing it.   Also download a devotional strictly for you and her, or maybe just open up the Bible and start in the book Songs of Solomon and read a few verses and reflect on their sentiments for each other, and ask yourself where do you and her line up, or feel about each other.   Sign up for the AOM (Art of Marriage) weekend conferences at one of our campuses (calvaryonline.cc) and most of all don't leave your RESPONSE-ABILITY up to someone else to tell your wife how good the meal was, how nice the house looks, or how beautiful/talented she is.....because when you do....remember like Eve, you'll find a snake talking to your wife, and if you do nothing as Adam did (he was right there....read it for yourself) it doesn't get better, it gets worse.     LGLP