Ephesians 5:20-30

"Let the wife make the husband glad to come home; and let him make her sorry to see him leave."

- Martin Luther

Today, too many couples scarcely relate to each other, after years of marriage. Many other activities, responsibilities and interests seem to crowd out the importance of a happy marital relationship for millions in America. Men want to be respected and women want to be loved, neither seems to be the case in most modern marriages.

1. Men must love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Wives must submit (adapt yourselves) to their husbands as a service to the Lord. The best marriage where there is the greatest fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control is where love and submission are maximized in the marriage. The basic reason, Paul states, is that God created the husband to be the head of the wife as Christ is the Head of the church. Therefore, as the church is to be subject to Christ, so let the wives be subject in everything to their husbands, but the husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself, continually for her with agape love that goes beyond eros, phileo or stergo (family affectionate and obligatory concerns).
2. The worst type of marriage is the hate and resist marriage. This marriage shows the opposite of love and submission. Patrick Morley in his book, The Man in the Mirror writes about this kind of relationship:

   The hate and resist marriage is seen in the TV show Dallas in the relationship between Sue Ellen who has locked J.R. out of the bedroom. Meanwhile, the wealthy Texas oil tycoon keeps several girlfriends around town. In the Hate and Resist marriage the wife nags her man, she idles the day away, and she contends with her husband's authority. Her disresepct for him displays itself in social functions, at which she makes sarcastic remarks about him that he hears for the first time. He treats his wife harshly and doesn't consider her feelings when making family decisions. Animosity and disrespect characterize his demeanor toward his wife in private, though he pretends to like her when they attend church or other gatherings." (P. 135, 136)

   
   

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