Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her[.] Ephesians 5:25
I agree with this post on DesiringGod.com
that states that Holy
Week is the most important week in all of history. While Holy Week and Easter have passed, I do want to read to completion John Piper's 50-day devotional Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die. Today I read reason #35: To Give Marriage Its Deepest Meaning. In today's devotion, Piper describes how Christ's death should be seen as model for marriage, reflecting His design for marriage that "preceded the union of Adam and Eve and the coming of Christ." See also Ephesians 5:31-32 (quoting Genesis 2:24). At the outset of the devotion, Piper shares that "God's design for marriage in the Bible pictures the husband loving his wife the way Christ loves his people, and the wife responding to her husband the way Christ’s people should respond to him." Christ's death on the cross reflects a love that husbands should have for their wives. Piper immediately clarifies that it's "not that husbands should suffer at the hands of their wives." The point is that God wants marriage to reflect Christ's love for His people, and to make this love more "visible to the world." Piper continues: "[a]ll [Christ's] sufferings were meant to be a message especially to husbands: This is how every husband should love his wife." Piper then elaborates as he concludes the devotion: "[h]usbands are not Christ. But they are called to be like him. And the specific point of likeness is the husband’s readiness to suffer for his wife’s good without threatening or abusing her. This includes suffering to protect her from any outside forces that would harm her, as well as suffering disappointments or abuses even from her."
My Prayer: Thank You Father God for the blessing of my marriage to Lisa! I am not deserving of such a blessing...my sin continues...daily. I am often not the husband You design me to be. Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from such sin towards You. Help me be the husband You designed me to be and command me to be. Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me. Help me grow in my faith. Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength. Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior. Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin. Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.
