Just Love Her

"Marriage Connections  Devotions For Couples"
Written By: Greg Laurie

The Bible gives every Chrsitian husband a revolutionary three-word phrase that has the power to radically change any marriage: Love your wife. Four times  in Ephesians 5:25-33, the apostle Paul instructs men to love their wives.
We husbands tend to gloss over this command, believing that we're already complying with God's instruction-but I think if we were to think through and apply this single commandment systematically, it would transform our marriages.
"But Greg," some might say, "What about her? Isn't she supposed to submit?"
Yes, but you are missing the point. Don't even concern yourself with that issue. You focus on what God has called you to do. And if you do your part, in most cases your wife will do hers. If you will begin to really love your wife, most likely she will respond in kind.
Does that sound implausiable? Think of it this way. Why are you a Christian in the first place? Why is that you put your faith in Jesus? Porbably it is because God loved you unconditioanlly. He accepted you as you where-in your ugly, helpless, simple state- and he began to transform and change you. It was his love that ultimately wore down your rebellion and resistance period. The bible says, "We love him because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19).
Our submission to Christ today is a direct result of his love towards us. We have come to see that his plans for us are good. We have come to see that even God tells us to do something we do not like, it is always for our benefit. So we surrender to him. It is difficult at times, but we do it. His love continually wins us over.
The same will be true in a marriage. If a wife can feel confident that her husband has her best interesets at heart: if she can see that he loves her so deeply that he continually demonstarates an intense concern for her welfare-then it will be far easier for her to submit to his leadership.
As a disparing man once called a friend because his wife was threatening to divorce him. With resignation in his voice, the dejected man asked his friend to pray for him. His friend said he would, but added, "The request I'm going to make in my prayers is that you stop being so acquiescent and fatalistic all about this. I know Mary and I know you. You two have a good marriage-up to know. And a good marriage is worth fighting for." The mans friend then described love as preseneted in Henry Drummond's classic book, the greatest thing in the world-inspired by 1 Corinthians 13 and challenged him to live out that kind of love. The man accepted his friends challenge and ulitmately saved his amrriage. Love has the kind of astonishing power. Try it for yourself, and enjoy the results.

A call to love is not so much a call to a certain state of feeling as it is to a quality of action. when Paul says, " Love your wives," he is saying, "Be loving towards your wife-treat her as lovely. "Do the things that are true and loving things..... how are you husbands to love their wives? How much love is required of the man? Paul says like Christ loves the church.