So husbands ought to love their own 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 the LORD does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Ephesians 5: 28-33, NKJV.
Dear God, how truly grateful we are for the opportunity of studying Your holy Word. We are so blessed by the nuggets of truth that we find therein. Please teach us to be, not only hearers, but doers, of the Words of Life; for Christ’s sake. Amen.
In answering the lawyer who “asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ”Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, ‘ You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself’. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets’ ” (Matthew 22: 35-40, NKJV). There is something to be said about the sequence of the commandments. Our first and greatest love should be for God. We should love Him with our entire being. I am convinced that when we love God in this manner, then, and only then, will we be able to love others as we love ourselves.” God is love. It is only when His love takes full control of our lives, that we will have love to share with others. The truth being told, only as He imbues us with His love, can we even love Him! True love begins and ends with God! Without Him, we do not have the ability to love. I know I sound redundant, but this truth must be internalized. Otherwise, we are fooling ourselves!
Consider the practicality of the example the apostle uses. Instead of repeating the second great commandment, he says, “Love your wives as you love your own bodies.” There is something about the way we take care of our bodies. I believe it is an unconscious survival tactic. In taking care of our bodies, we are actually taking care of our lives! So the apostle appears to be saying take care of her, as you would your very life! Notice how bold he is in his next statement, “he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it[.]” He can be this emphatic, because he does not expect that husbands will love their wives just casually, rather he repeats what he said a few verses earlier: “just as the LORD does the church.” He expects husbands to receive love from God to enable them to love their wives. That is only possible when our lives are joined to Christ’s. “For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.” When we become, a part of Him, we can love the way He loves! Hallelujah! Isn’t that what He asked us to do? “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 15: 12). What a lofty goal to be reached!
To summarize his exhortation, the apostle goes all the way back to the Pentateuch, to the very first book (according to our biblical chronology). He borrows the Words of God, as He joins Adam and Eve in holy matrimony: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2: 24; Matthew 19: 4, 5)! “In the beginning,” that is the way it was. He describes this fusing together of two lives, as “a mystery.” and truly, it is nothing less! Again, he explains why, and how, this “mystery” is possible – when it is done after the pattern of, “Christ and the church.” It is a divine-human act! Now, it will not be hard for the man to love his wife as himself, or the woman, to respect her husband!