Ok, it’s the Guys time to be scrutinized a bit. Relax and enjoy, Fellas! It’s all for your spiritual growth. Read with open minds!
It is so sad to me today that young men in their 20’s run away from marriage. Marriage is a good gift from God meant to bring blessing, companionship, and potentially children. Men who disparage marriage are disparaging God Himself and what He has ordained to be a blessing.
Yet why is there discord between a husband and wife? Genesis 3:16 sheds some light on the battle of the sexes that we see so often today:
To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”
That final part of the verse tells it all. Her desire shall be for her husband and he shall rule over her. A lot of implications there to ponder that we will not be able to discuss in this short blog post. But one thing is sure: in the flesh, this curse from man’s choice to sin will only continue. The only antidote to cure the flesh is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and what a cure it is! So men are called to love their wives by the power of the Holy Spirit and most men will confess that it takes the power of the Spirit to love your wife as God requires.
Ephesians 5:25 begins a famous passage commanding men not to give into the flesh to rule over their wives in a sinful way but to lead their wives in a sacrificial and loving way:
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…
The passage continues by giving us a picture of the love of Jesus for His bride.
One extreme that men in their flesh manifest is a desire to have a woman around merely to serve them. They are passive and desire her to wait on them hand and foot rather than looking for opportunities to serve their wives as Christ served His bride, the body of Christ expressed in the church. Unless men flip that mentality of being served to a mentality to serve, they will fail to honor God and love their wives. Disharmony and often divorce result from such a male mindset of wanting to be served.
Thankfully, we have the model of Christ, the perfect, righteous servant Who loved His bride and gave His righteous life for her. Men who enter marriage with a mindset to serve their wives will find many, many blessings!
Discussion: What are resources men can be find to be discipled and taught about the principles of biblical marriage? How can we impact our culture to view marriage as a good mechanism of sanctification that God uses to grow His people and to glorify His Name?
-Mark (learning I have a long way to grow in serving my wife)
P.S. Hope and Help for Marriage is a booklet I wrote that is available through Focus Publishing at www.focuspublishing.com