Heretic Husbands

Some husbands are heretics. In Ephesians 5:25-33 Paul instructs husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church. This means Christ is the ultimate example of how I should love my wife - He sacrificed everything, including His comfort, convenience, and preference for His bride, the Church. Paul is clear that as a husband I am to reflect this same type of love in my relationship with my wife and that in so doing I’m saying something to her, to our church, and to our culture about Jesus.

So the question I’m asking myself this morning is,

“Who am I saying Jesus is and what am I saying Jesus is like in the way I’m loving my wife?”

Am I, through my displayed love for Tami, saying Jesus is gracious, caring, nurturing, sacrificial, and selfless?  Or, do my actions preach a Christ that is selfish, distant, impatient, cold, and harsh? It’s simply not enough to speak correctly regarding the person and work of Christ. I must also display a correct picture of the person and work of Christ through my actions.

Husbands, the way we love our wives today will say something to them about who Jesus is. So, are you a heretic?

Are you proclaiming a false Christ in this world, by failing to love your wife the way Christ loved the Church? Are you displaying a Christ that contradicts the true Christ as revealed in the Scriptures? The answer: Yes.

You will fail. You probably even are failing, so you need Jesus. Our only hope is to look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.    Jesus was and is the perfect Husband to us, His bride the Church.  He was perfect because we could not be.

As we look to Him, He changes us, so we can love like Him.