Ephesians 5:22 - 33 " Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love you wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds it and cares for it, just as Christ does the church - for we are members of his body. 'For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' This is a profound mystery - but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."
I believe that these verses hold a valuable key to a happy marriage - yes I am putting it in a divorce section, but we can learn from our mistakes and failures. I am writing this in hopes that it may help people heal, gain closure, and eventually enter into a happy and fulfilling relationship.
Do not just skim these verses, they are not saying that wives have to be submissive people and sacrifice themselves to fulfill every selfish whim of their husbands. If anything these verses are tasking the husband. As a husband, we are to love our wife as Christ loved the church - he DIED for the church, gave himself as a sacrifice. If you had someone that you truly believed would sacrifice themselves and their desires for you, wouldn't you be a little more compassionate and a little more willing to give and forgive? As men we need to recognize our roles in our marriages - both successful and not, and own our short comings.
We need to develop a pure love for our spouse - the love as described in Corinthians... We also need to look at the Biblical role of a wife - do not just look at this passage, read Proverbs 31 - "The Wife of Noble Character". The woman described in this passage is a partner in the truest since of the word and her husband is blessed by her. She is a blessing to him, as our wife is to us.
Understanding the dynamics of a marriage and having a God based relationship are critical if a marriage is to stand the tests and trials we all face. A marriage requires continuous work and commitment from both people as well as a commitment to self examination. Take a daily inventory of yourself, any bitterness, unforgiveness, hurt, etc, needs to be dealt with or it will allow a wall to form between you and your spouse - these walls will ultimately destroy your relationship (the same can be applied to any relationship).
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