Read Colossians 3:19, Ephesians 5:25-33, 1 Peter 3:7
In the movie Hitch, Will Smith plays a modern day match maker who begins the
While the key word for wives, as we saw yesterday, was ‘submit’, the key word for husbands is ‘love’. Love includes the romantic type love that Hitch sought to grow between a man and a woman, but it more fully includes a selfless love that puts the other person’s needs first. This love is seen ultimately in the love of Jesus who gave His very life for our sinfulness to wash us and purify us for God. The husband is called to love his wife in same way that Christ loved the church. Most, if not all women, would be very happy to be loved in this way! Even the hardest of hearts would melt in the face of this kind of selfless love.
In Colossians 3:19 husbands are told that they are NOT to be harsh with their wives. They are not to rule with an iron fist. They are not to ridicule and put their wife down. They are not to treat their wives as slaves, and they are not to see them as their own personal pleasure machine. The old adage ‘treat them mean to keep them keen’ has no place in the Christian marriage.
In 1 Peter 3:7 the husband is told to be considerate of his wife. He is to think of her needs and her desires. He is to know her limitations and abilities. He is to be mindful of her daily needs and limitations. He is to treat his wife with respect and as a co-heir of the gift of eternal life. She is in no way inferior to himself. They are equal before God.
In fact, according to Ephesians 5, the husband is to seek to bring out the best in his wife. He is to ensure that she grows in godliness. He is to allow her to develop to become pure and radiant in the Lord. She is to grow into all that God has planned for her. In short, the husband is to love his wife selflessly and is to seek to minister to her needs day by day. He is to model the love of Christ. He is the spiritual head of the house who ensures that his wife has adequate time with the Lord, is regularly in the Word and has meaningful time with other Christians. The husband is to be willing to die for his wife - modelling the agape love of God shared with the Church through Jesus Christ.
In short, the Christian marriage is a coming together of two people who seek to be like Christ to each other. Each partner in the marriage seeks to bless the other, to meet their needs and to bring out the best in the other. Selfless, Jesus-honouring love is the hall mark of a Christian marriage. It’s the kind of love that serves and gives, even when that love and service aren’t returned. It’s the kind of love that has no strings attached and no hidden agendas.
In a Christian marriage each partner seeks to serve God by fulfilling the other. As that happens each person dies to self and finds true life.
Prayer:
Using today’s Bible reading and notes spend time praying.
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
à Pray for the marriages in your congregation asking God to move both husbands and wives to fulfil the roles that He created for marriage. Pray that these marriages would be places of harmony and peace and that they would shine the light of Jesus so clearly that others are drawn to Christ.
à Pray for any marriages that may be on the rocks asking Jesus to revive the love and commitment to each other. Pray for healing and forgiveness to be at the heart of this reconciliation.
Harmony comes into a marriage when we structure it according to God’s principles & plan and not our own.
1. In what ways can a Christian marriage be evangelistic?
2. Damien, a Christian man, comes home from work each night and expects dinner to be cooked, the children to be bathed and in bed and the house totally clean. In what way does the Bible speak to Damien.
3. What counsel would you give to Damien?
Intro: Husbands are often pictured in the media today as bozos who can’t get anything right. Homer Simpson is a classic picture of the modern day husband. The biblical picture of a husband is far different
Share: about how much you love your husband if possible /applicable and why.
Read: Ephesians 5:25-33
Read: Ephesians 5:25-33
How is a husband called to treat his wife?
What is his goal for his wife?
what is a husband’s role compared to?
Pray Together: that husbands in the church will love their families like Christ loves the church.
Intro: Husbands are often pictured in the media today as bozos who can’t get anything right. Homer Simpson is a classic picture of the modern day husband. The biblical picture of a husband is far different .
Share: about your desire to be a godly husband and your goal for your wife/children.
Read: Ephesians 5:25-33
How is a husband called to treat his wife?
What is his goal for his wife?
what is a husband’s role compared to?
Pray Together: that husbands in the church will love their families like Christ loves the church.
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