HUSBANDS, LOVE YOUR WIVES
Ephesians 5:25-33


Ps 127:1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh [but] in vain. 

Love is defined in I Cor. 13:4-7 by the use of 15 verbs in the Greek text not adjectives; therefore, love is active, not just a tingly feeling or emotion. 
Love is what you do and the motive behind it.
-1Jo 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.


What type of love is a man to have for his wife. How do you describe this type of love? It is a:


I - SKILLFUL LOVE 5:25 "husbands love" 

1Pe 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with [them] according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

1Jo 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, [even] in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

If God has opened your heart to know Him, by breaking through the misunderstanding you once had about Christ, He can surely open your heart to know and understand your wife.

II - SUBMISSIVE LOVE 5:25 "your wives"  
Jesus was under the authority of God

John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

Eph 5:21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

III - SACRIFICIAL LOVE 5:25 "and gave himself for it"

IV - SANCTIFYING LOVE 5:26 "that he might sanctify and cleanse it" 
Set apart to God. Doing what is best for her in order to lead her to Christ likeness. An eternal concern for her spiritual well-being. To promote in every way possible her salvation and spiritual growth.

V - SUPPORTIVE LOVE 5:28-29 "nouritsheth and cherisheth it"
1. A love that ministers to her physical needs

1Ti 5:8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

2. A love that ministers to her spiritual needs

NOURISHETH 1625 ek-tref'-o: 1) to nourish up to maturity, to nourish. 2) to nurture, bring up.

3. A love that ministers to her emotional needs

CHERISHETH - 2282 thalpo thal'-po: 1) to warm, keep warm. 2) to cherish with tender love, to foster with tender care

1Pe 3:7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with [them] according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

1Sa 1:8 Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? [am] not I better to thee than ten sons? 

VI - STEADFAST LOVE 5:31 "shall be joined unto his wife" 
(let's go on a journey of warnings and wisdom through the word of God) Prov. 2:11 & 16; 5:1-21; 6:23-29, 32; 7:4-5 "The snare of unchastity"

VII - SEXUAL LOVE 5:31 "they two shall be one flesh" 
Heb 13:4 Marriage [is] honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

1Co 7:3-5 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other, except [it be] with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.

VIII - SPECIAL LOVE 5:33  "let every one of you in particular so love his wife"