These verses begin with, “In the same way”. This is a reference to the fact that Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. In this section we see very important details about Christian marriage. Let’s look at a few. When a husband loves his wife, he is also loving himself. To the husbands reading this, if you want an amazing, peaceful, fulfilling, joyous, and physically satisfying marriage, love your wife sacrificially and unreservedly! To the wives reading this,
if you want an emotionally safe, secure, fulfilling, joyous, and love filled marriage, love and respect your husband sacrificially and unreservedly! In this passage Paul reiterates the biblical standard for marriage and sexual expression: one man, one woman, in a lifetime marriage covenant. Let me be real here.
Every Christian marriage I’ve ever seen end in divorce, or even simply become sameness and drudgery instead of joyful was due to one issue. There are zero exceptions to this fact. In these terrible situations the husband, or the wife, but often both, stopped truly following Christ. Here is the truth: if both husband and wife are 100% committed to following Christ and living in obedience to His word, divorce is impossible. A miserable marriage doesn’t happen either. And so, if you are a Christian man married to a Christian woman, or vice versa, and your marriage is loveless and painful, it’s time to take a hard look at each of your own individual relationships with Christ.
Every marriage deals with challenges, but the ones where the most important thing to both the husband and the wife is total submission to Christ and His word are inexplicably glorious and beautiful beyond measure. The key to marriage is this: “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind and with all of your strength” (Mark 12:30) and then in Him you will be able to love your wife or husband as you love yourself.
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