Word@Work Eph68 - Ephesians 5:25-27
Published: Thu, 01/08/09
Word@Work from BeaconLight
LOVING TO GIVE EVERYTHING
Ephesians 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. (NIV)
There is no doubt that most husbands would like their wives to radiate loveliness. But how does that happen? The way in which Jesus Christ has treated us flawed and corrupted human beings is also God's pattern for marriage. Without Christ we would have no freedom from guilt on earth, nor any legitimate hope of heaven; nothing desirable about us at all. What Jesus has done for us is to set out His promises, in His Word, of forgiveness and restoration to relationship with Him; and He is fulfilling them as we trust in Him. As we know, the cost to him of doing so was to lay down His life.
That is how God intends that husbands should love their wives! In the same way that Christ's actions were governed by a very deep desire to see us released from all that would keep us away from being all that He intends us to be ... so Christian husbands should be motivated by a desire to see their wives fulfilled, whatever that may cost the husband. This instantly transfers marriage from the world of mutual taking to mutual giving, with the husband having the default responsibility of giving most.
That is not how either Christianity or marriage is presented in the media. The idea of giving until it hurts and then still giving; seems ludicrous. But when we start to get to know our Saviour, and realise the depths to which He has stooped for us, He starts to make an impression on our value system - so that we want to give and to help and to love in such a way that we are willing to give ourselves up for others. It is the gospel principle that works through our hearts in the home and will inevitably start to show in the workplace too. Willing endurance and patient kindness do not grow on trees; they are fruits of the Spirit of God who wants to make us more like Jesus. And when that happens, everybody notices!
Prayer: Dear Lord. Thank You for Your supreme sacrifice for me, to enable me to grow like you. Help me to practice Your self-giving character in my home, so that the difference will be evident everywhere. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
You can read the verses around this Bible passage from the Internet Bible: - in English, and Spanish
There is no doubt that most husbands would like their wives to radiate loveliness. But how does that happen? The way in which Jesus Christ has treated us flawed and corrupted human beings is also God's pattern for marriage. Without Christ we would have no freedom from guilt on earth, nor any legitimate hope of heaven; nothing desirable about us at all. What Jesus has done for us is to set out His promises, in His Word, of forgiveness and restoration to relationship with Him; and He is fulfilling them as we trust in Him. As we know, the cost to him of doing so was to lay down His life.
That is how God intends that husbands should love their wives! In the same way that Christ's actions were governed by a very deep desire to see us released from all that would keep us away from being all that He intends us to be ... so Christian husbands should be motivated by a desire to see their wives fulfilled, whatever that may cost the husband. This instantly transfers marriage from the world of mutual taking to mutual giving, with the husband having the default responsibility of giving most.
That is not how either Christianity or marriage is presented in the media. The idea of giving until it hurts and then still giving; seems ludicrous. But when we start to get to know our Saviour, and realise the depths to which He has stooped for us, He starts to make an impression on our value system - so that we want to give and to help and to love in such a way that we are willing to give ourselves up for others. It is the gospel principle that works through our hearts in the home and will inevitably start to show in the workplace too. Willing endurance and patient kindness do not grow on trees; they are fruits of the Spirit of God who wants to make us more like Jesus. And when that happens, everybody notices!
Prayer: Dear Lord. Thank You for Your supreme sacrifice for me, to enable me to grow like you. Help me to practice Your self-giving character in my home, so that the difference will be evident everywhere. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
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