The Husband’s Calling

We read from Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus regarding “The Husband,”

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25 – NASB)

With so much domestic abuse by “husbands” in this day in which you and I live, with so much fighting and bickering  between married couples, this command of God to “husbands” needs to ring out loud and clear to the godly man, the man who is in Christ. 
 
If we “husbands” profess to be Christians then we need to hear this word and be doers of this word (James 1:22). God calls us to “love (our) wives.” This word for “love” here is the Greek word we probably are all familiar with; agapao.  This word speaks of a “direction of the will and finding one’s joy in carrying out the act.” It is the same word used in John 3:16: “For God so loved . . . .” 
 
God so loved the world that He acted out His will for it, sacrificing self to send His one and only Son to die for our sins. Likewise, “The Husband” is to so act toward his wife, “loving” her “just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” We know how “Christ” has “loved” His “church,” so it shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how a “husband” is called to “love” his wife.
 
“The Husband” is to be willing to give his life for his wife, and that doesn’t just mean dying for her. Note what Paul says further about Christ’s intentions in “loving” His “church,”

“that He might sanctify her (the church) , having cleansed her (the church) , by the washing of the water with the word” (Ephesians 5:26 – NASB)

“The Husband” is to be “loving” his wife with the desire to “sanctify her,” or, set her apart “by the washing of the water with the word.” Just as “Christ” desires that His “church” be set apart by the word (John 17:17) so “The Husband’s” desire should also be for his wife. He should strive to read and study the Word of God so that he can teach it to his wife, helping her to be “cleansed” by it. 
 
The intent of this . . . 

“that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5:27 – NASB)

So you see the clear intent of “Christ” for His “church.” He desires to “present . . . her . . . having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless.” And so . . . the husband’s calling: 
 

“love your wives just as Christ loved the church”

desire and strive to “sanctify her . . . by the washing of the water of the word” 

the intent being to “present . . . her . . . having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing”

“that she should be holy and blameless” 

 
A lofty goal for “The Husband,” but one God commands him to constantly strive to fulfill toward his wife. 
 
Have a good day . . . and if you are a husband then know your calling in regards to the woman you are married to, and diligently seek to fulfill it. 
 

Daily Bread Devotions by Chuck Myer  Daily Bread Archive | Sign up for our resources