RMECHAP's Devotions

I am going to forgo the study on Leviticus today. What I want to talk about today is relationships, specifically marriage. I may have spoke about this before but it is heavy upon my heart again. De’Dee and I are involved in a study on Wednesday evenings where we are working through the study based on the movie, “Fireproof”. Tonight we watch the movie. What a powerful well made movie. If you have not seen it I recommend it to you.

Based on that fact I wanted to talk to you today about marriage. Ephesians 5 says the following:

21 Place yourselves under each other's authority out of respect for Christ. 22 Wives, place yourselves under your husbands' authority as you have placed yourselves under the Lord's authority. 23 The husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. It is his body, and he is its Savior. 24 As the church is under Christ's authority, so wives are under their husbands' authority in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. 26 He did this to make the church holy by cleansing it, washing it using water along with spoken words. 27 Then he could present it to himself as a glorious church, without any kind of stain or wrinkle--holy and without faults. 28 So husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself. 29 No one ever hated his own body. Instead, he feeds and takes care of it, as Christ takes care of the church. 30 We are parts of his body. 31 That's why a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will be one. 32 This is a great mystery. (I'm talking about Christ's relationship to the church.) 33 But every husband must love his wife as he loves himself, and wives should respect their husbands.

Many of us skip over verse 21 and jump right on to verse 22 and yet leaves the rest of the verses alone. What we get is not a marriage but a dictatorship. We claim to be Christian husbands yet we don’t do what scripture says. We allow the world to crowd out what God says about marriage.

The first thing to notice is that there is a mutual submission of one to another. That makes it a partnership. The second things is wives submitting. Now this is not intended to give men the right to sit around their home ruling with an iron fist like a dictator. The fact that the wives are to submit to the husband should humble the husband not make him proud and a dictator. You see by having the wives submit that means those of us as husbands are responsible for what happens and will be held accountable for what we do and how our home is.

More important than either of the above is the verses of 25 – 33. In these verses it commands the husband to love his wife and it says how that love is to be demonstrated.

1. Love your wife as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it.
2. He did this to make the church holy, washing it using water and spoken words.
3. Husband love must love their wives as they love their own bodies.
4. No one ever hated his own body. Instead he feeds and takes care of it.
5. Every husband must love their wife as he loves himself.

Notice in the above there is no room for a husbands selfish demanding for servitude from his wife. In fact it requires a humble caring for his wife. You see men the fact is that it is not about you. It is about your bride. I will guarantee that if you give to your bride you won’t have to worry about your needs being met.

I recommend that you rent, buy or borrow the movie and sit and honestly watch it. I also recommend that you pick up the book “Every Man’s Marriage”. These two resources will have an impact in your life. Above all else take a true look at what scripture says about marriage. Don’t allow the influence of society or the world to impact how you interpret scripture.