Devotion 4: Building With Love

Karsen Theede 

"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish." Ephesians 5:25-27 

If LEGO or Lincoln Logs taught me anything as a kid, they taught me the importance of a good foundation. I remember trying to build massive towers just to have them fall over because I thought one LEGO brick could hold up a tower as tall as 5-year-old me. Now, with a couple more years under my belt, I have graduated from LEGO and have helped to build real houses; yet, this principle of a good foundation hasn't changed. The majority of building a new house is the planning and construction of the foundation because you can't move until the foundation is solid. However, a good foundation doesn't just apply to houses. Men and husbands, God asks us to be the ones to build a foundation in our families that will last generations. 

So, where do we start with this foundation? The first four words of Ephesians 5:25 sum it up pretty well, "Husbands, love your wives." Love should be the foundation of all relationships, including most importantly, our families. We tend to use the word love a little too flippantly. For example, I love sports, and I have favorite sports teams that I watch, but my love for them can very easily change based on their performance on any given day. This isn't the love that I'm talking about.  

Earlier, I intentionally left out a chunk of Ephesians 5:25 relating to the kind of love I'm speaking of, it states, "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." The love that our family should be built on is the love that Jesus has for us. Jesus' love for us is pure, unwavering, and unconditional. He loves everyone, no matter what we have done, and he loves us so much that he died on the cross so we can be set free from our sins. Romans 5:8 says, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." This is not just love through words, but is shown through sacrifice and actions. 

As husbands, we sacrifice our lives in order to hold fast to our wives, and we sacrifice our time and energy investing in our new family. As husbands, our families should be built on this kind of love that Christ gives to us as a reflection of His sacrifice. This love also teaches our children and family how to love others, which is an essential role that we have. In the same way that Jesus loves the church, we are to love our wives. Ephesians 5:28 says: "In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself." 

I encourage husbands reading this to take a moment and think about the foundation that you have built for your family. Has it become a routine or is it intentional and sacrificial love like the one that Jesus exemplifies?