EPHESIANS 5:25-28
25. Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26. to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27. And to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy as blameless. 28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29. After all, no one has ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church 30. For we are members of his body. 31. “For this reason a man leaves his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32. This is a profound mystery but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33. However each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect the husband.
This passage in Ephesians 5 has 3 parts to it. It starts out first to the wives, then to the husbands and the in chapter 6 to the children. This also is the message to the families in which is a picture of Christ’s church. In which is the message that was delivered to the body of Christ where I am called to serve.
Now I must remind you that I have no Biblical education so in illustrating what these verses are saying, I will use a little of myself as an example and will be putting the meaning in my own words as I understood what I heard. We first heard open your Bibles and take notes. I looked around and wonder how many men took notes, also I witnessed many women with note pads taking notes. Not that that matters much, other than I didn’t take notes and relied on my wife. I say this because for me I rely way too much on my wife to do way to much, more than she is called to do as my wife. But then again in line with her calling she is not being idle.
I can’t put an exact number on this but in the church today more than 51% of marriages end in divorce, in which mine was almost a victim. I think in line with this passage we have to examine why. The reasons why my marriage almost ended in divorce is purely because of my selfish love. In this I was on a collision course heading for a train wreck. I am often pursuing my own selfish gains and thereby leaving out the needs of my wife. I will admit and she will testify that this is not always the case, however it is enough that it leaves us both unsatisfied. I also have to admit that my pursuit to know God is not enough. Meaning that it has to not be just enough, my pursuit to know God and being a Godly man needs to be the priority in my life. Not to pursue God for what He can do for me or/and what I can get from Him. My God doesn’t carry around a magic wand for me to wish upon a star please fix my problems. No my prayers should consist of Lord you have saved me by your grace, Lord I submit my life to you. For you to mold me, shape me into the likeness of Christ, transform me and my mind with your Word so that my life will be a pleasing sight unto you Father God. I think that the reasons for a lot of divorces are because as men, leaders of our families we are pursuing the wrong things, in the wrong ways and thereby are not pursuing God enough and our wives.
Gentlemen we have to ask ourselves in the directive of this Scripture; How does Christ love the church? He came and PURSUED her!! He has never stopped and he is still pursuing us today! Let us examine what it means to pursue. To actively go after. Take a female lion that has to feed her young, she will do whatever it takes to catch her prey. Or Take a police officer that’s chasing a criminal, they will stop at no expense in getting their guy. Now lets look at God we deserve to die because of sin, God put his own Son on a cross to redeem his creation and Christ is still actively pursuing us today, to save us, then to help us walk closely with Him. God gave us His Word for us to pursue and know Him. What lengths will you/me go to pursue a relationship with God? Men what lengths will we go to pursue our wives. Now I understand that it’s more than just pursuing. And so we are clear LOVE is not and emotion, It’s an action. There is an emotional element to it, but it’s what we do, it’s who God is and who we are to be also. I didn’t come up with this, our youth pastor explained to me. And then read 1 JOHN which says God is Love, then turn to 1 CORINTIANS 13 and it says what Love and what God is. Father God as your bride help me to love you and my wife as you love the church. In Jesus Name Amen….
© Copyright By Bart Hickey, All Rights Reserved, 2011, 2012 and 2013
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