Ephesians 5:28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.
God’s Plan and Order for marriage is straightforward but not always easy to adhere to. Yesterday, we addressed the part about wives submitting to their husbands and allowing them to be the leader of their household.
Today, we look at what God’s Word has to say to husbands. In one sentence, the Apostle Paul says a bundle. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.
While God’s Order places the husband as the head of the house, it does not intend for the husband to abuse his wife or take advantage of her in any way. In fact, it’s just the opposite. A husband is to love his wife as if she were part of his own body. God’s Plan makes a married couple one flesh. They are a team, joined together by God and not to be separated. So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate. (Matthew 19:6)
What the Scripture is saying is that anything you would not do to yourself, you are not to do to your wife. Because you would not hurt yourself, you do not hurt your wife. You don’t cheat yourself, so you do not cheat your wife. You would never lie to yourself, so you should not lie to your wife. You are not unfaithful to yourself; therefore, you are not to be unfaithful to your wife. You do not overwork yourself, so you should never overwork your wife. She is an extension of yourself; part of your own body.
Husbands are to love and care for their wives just as they would any part of themselves. They feed, clothe, and provide shelter for themselves, so they are to do the same for their wife. They encourage themselves, therefore they are to encourage their wife in the same manner. They provide medical care for themselves, so they should do the same for their wife. Nothing is excluded from this. Anything the husband would do for themselves, they should provide for their wife.
(As a side note, this Biblical Principle is where America’s alimony laws stem from. A husband is required to care and provide for his wife (even if they are divorced) until she takes another husband.)
To put it in a nutshell, men, when you take a wife, she becomes a part of yourself. God’s Order mandates that you love, care, and provide for her as if she were a part of your physical body, because in the Eyes of God, she is exactly that.
God caused Adam to go into a deep sleep, and He removed a rib from Adam’s side, and from that rib, God made woman, Eve. (Genesis 2:21) Eve was literally a part of Adam’s body. Your wife is also a part of your body, made by God, for you to love, cherish and provide for. Anything less is out of God’s Order for marriage.
God’s Order is perfect and will........turn the tide
What an awesome God we serve! Doreen
