Husbands, Love Your Wives

Recently, I shared a post from another blog about Opposite World, which reminded women to respect their husbands. Women are commanded by God to respect their husbands in Ephesians 5.  It occurred to me that the instructions in the Bible are given because it involves our true needs or addresses struggles we all have.
For instance, it tells us 365 times in one way or another, "do not fear."  Why would it need to say it for every day of the year if we were not prone to fear? It is an area in which we all struggle at one time or another, to some degree.
Parents are instructed to train their children in the way they should go and when they are old, they will not depart from it. Parents are instructed in Deuteronomy to teach and train them in the every day activities of life. Why does it say that? Children need instruction and training. We are not to let them go and discover on their own and expect them to just figure it out. They need instruction and it is the job of the parents to give it.

Men need to feel respected, and the man's wife is responsible for giving that respect. When a man feels the respect of his wife, he can soar to heights even he never believed he could. When she respects her husband, it is easier for their children to respect and obey their father.

Conversely, the Bible instructs men to love their wives as their own bodies, as Christ loved the church. What did Christ do for the church? Jesus gave Himself up for the church, dying on the cross that they might be made holy. Men are instructed to love their wives because love is what women need. They need to feel loved.  When they feel loved, they feel more capable to do all that they need to do as well.  In thinking about loving of wives in "opposite world," I wanted to share some really great single-moment example.
At first, the big example that came to mind was that of a friend of mine. My friend is a physician and her husband is a pilot in the Air Force. They have three precious little boys. Recently they came to a point of decision about the next step in their future.  Being ranked among the top ten of pilots in the Air Force, he was pursued for a very promising career which would  have been the envy of many, especially any that might have political ambitions. However, this new position would have meant a lot of traveling away from his wife and three boys. My friend's husband realized that he alone was charged with being the spiritual head of his home to raise his boys, and he alone is given the task of loving my friend. He has been quoted publicly as saying of her, "You make me want to come home." So instead of pursuing this career advancement, my friend's husband gave his notice and will be retiring from the Air Force early next year.  That is loving his wife in "opposite world."

As I continued thinking about this topic though, it occurred to me that most men may never have such a dramatic story to tell. However, most men have the opportunity to love their wives like my husband loves me. Rich cooks often, and not just his amazing pizza, because he likes to cook and because it is a way to help care for me.  He helps sweep the house and mop the floor when things have gotten crazy busy. He helps finish the laundry when I am out doing ministry. To some in America, this may not seem like a big deal. However, where we live most of the time, a husband who watches the kids so his wife can go out and helps around the house is very much so opposite to the rest of the culture.

Husbands, love your wives. I have often said, long before I was married, that if a man loved me like the Bible commanded, then I would have zero problem in respecting him.  To be honest though, I do not have that luxury. I am commanded to respect my husband, whether he loves me not. Thankfully he does love me very much, but even he has gone through periods of struggle like job loss and been discouraged.