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NASB | Ephesians 5:25 ¶ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 5:25 ¶ Husbands, love your wives [seek the highest good for her and surround her with a caring, unselfish love], just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, |
Subject: Can we put doctrine into practice? |
Bible Note: Well, this is a Study Bible Forum, so we will be spending a lot of time on what the Bible says. My two-word answer made a lot of sense. What do I do to love my wife as Christ loved the church? "Not enough." Just ask my wife! :) The Bible is not heavy on day-to-day specifics on a lot of issues, such as husbands treating wives. However, with Christ as our example, it should be clear that a husband's love for a wife should be one of both providing spiritual direction and one of utter self-sacrifice. I do not know you nor your spouse, but those are good measuring sticks to see where you are feebly approaching Christ's spirit of self-sacrifice and where you fall short. Ask yourself constantly, "How can I glorify God through my marriage by loving my wife sacrificially as Christ willingly and joyously gave Himself over to death for His people?" That is when the specifics will fall into place, on an encounter-by-encounter basis. As the Holy Spirit transforms and renews us, we obey God's commands and that plays out in how we strive to assist our wives in their sanctification. An excellent book on this issue is called "Reforming Marriage" by Douglas Wilson, published by Canon Press. The fact of the matter is the Bible doesn't say, "Thou shalt do the dishes when your wife is tired" or "Bring to your wife roses seven times a month." The Bible is chock full of God's will in the form of general principles. It is our duty and joy to translate those into the specifics. --Joe! |