Husbands and Wives from Ephesians 5 - Part 3

The basic command for husbands in Ephesians 5 is "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her..." 5:25.

This tells us that our love for our wives is to be SACRIFICIAL, like Christ's for us.

Giving "himself up for her" refers to Christ's crucifixion. His love was a TOTAL, HOLDING NOTHING BACK kind of love.

James M. Boice writes of a story from the Greek histories:

"...The wife of one of the generals of Cyrus, the ruler of Persia, was accused of treachery and was condemned to die. At first her husband did not know what was taking place. But as soon as he heard about it he rushed to the palace and burst into the throne room. He threw himself on the floor before the king and cried out, 'Oh, my Lord Cyrus, take my life instead of hers. Let me die in her place.'
"Cyrus, who by all historical accounts was a noble and extremely sensitive man, was touched by this offer. He said, 'Love like that must not be spoiled by death.' Then he gave the husband and wife back to each other and let the wife go free."
"As they walked away happily the husband said to his wife, 'Did you notice how kindly the king looked at us when he gave you the pardon?' The wife replied, 'I had no eyes for the king. I saw only the man who was willing to die in my place.'" Ephesians, p.200

This wonderful story illustrates how the SACRIFICIAL LOVE of Christ wins the heart of the church and how that same kind of love will win the hearts of our wives.

Jesus said, "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend" John 15:13.

Of course, men, we are not called on too often to go to a cross for our wives or to throw ourselves down before the king to offer ourselves in their condemned place. The SACRIFICIAL LOVE we are called on to make is a day by day, moment by moment, situation by situation love that DIES TO OUR OWN PLANS and COMFORT for the good of our wife.

While we steadfastly insist that we are willing to DIE for our wife, she may be wondering if we are willing to LIVE for her. Will we fold the laundry? Will we take up the slack after arriving home from work? Will we listen to her as she shares the details of her day? Will we share with her the details of OUR day? Are we willing to talk for another 15 minutes when our inner alarm says "BEDTIME!"?

How often in the past week have you asked yourself, "What will serve my wife at this moment?"

It is a HIGH and HOLY love that we are called to show our wives. It is a love which follows Jesus to the cross...daily.

But this kind of love will make it a JOY for our wives to SUBMIT to our leadership and will give her eyes ONLY FOR US.