Ephesians 5:25 and what follows has long been one of my favorite parts of Scripture, even before I was married.
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.”
It’s both a beautiful description of the sacrificial love between a husband and wife and a declaration that a sacrifice has already been made for us.
It’s a command for husbands to love and protect their wives as they would their own hands and feet while at the same time showing that Christ already does love us in that way – not because we have done anything to deserve it or earn it but simply because we are a part of him.
It’s a picture of wild, crazy, unconditional love described in human terms, but it also means that through our spouses and any relationship for that matter, we can experience God’s love and better understand the depth of how passionate He is about us.
Which means it’s time to brag about my wife!
For a month or two now I’ve been processing through and writing about what it means to be a child of God, and how my Father loves me regardless of what I can do or create. I am deeply loved and cherished because of who I am, and because I am his son.
Recently, I had waited a couple weeks to find out if I had earned something I had been competing for. By the time I found out, I was pretty laid back about it and content with whatever happened, but Amy was very nervous for me and was constantly checking my email to see if we had heard anything. The phone call came and I was rejected, but the look on her face was one of pride and complete love and adoration and without any hint of shame or disappointment in my inability to come out on top.
As I went to bed that night, I couldn’t have been more proud to be her husband or felt any more loved for who I was than in that moment. It quickly dawned on me that she has always loved me like that.
Coming home from basketball games, she’s never asked who won – she doesn’t really care about the final score. She doesn’t care if hundreds of people read my blog or if only she does – she just likes to read them. And she doesn’t particularly care if I’m playing music in front of 500 people or just in our living room for her – she just likes to hear me sing.
Even when I’m down about my inability to do this or that, consumed with not having a more “prestigious” job, or just flat out fail at something, I know that I am completely loved by her, not because of what I do or accomplish but because I’m her husband and she knows who I am.
And getting to experience that from her does two things.
It makes me fall even more in love with her and makes me want to serve her and cherish her like I never have before. And it helps me to experience God’s love and to know that it really is possible that He loves me deeply, simply because I’m his son.
Because if she’s capable of loving me like that, He certainly is too. -CK
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