How did Christ love the Church?

[Paul Whitaker]

The Apostle Paul says in Philippians that husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the Church.

How did He love the Church?

Was the Church in existence when he was in his teaching ministry?

How are we to love our wives? I need to know how to do this better!

This is a serious question. I probably have not done enough research on this.

[Hans Deventer]

Paul, I think you are referring to Ephesians 5?

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

I think Christ's love for the church showed in Him dying for us, "while we were yet sinners", indeed, before there was a church as a body. It is the deepest expression of the fact that we are totally, unconditionally loved. Which is our deepest need.

As to loving your wife, Paul writes we should love our wives as ourselves, feed them and care for them. And he speaks of total unity.

The feeding might be taken literally, but I don't suppose Paul was too concerned about bringing in fresh bread on a daily basis :basic03, though of course it has to do with physical needs too. I think it is mainly about emotional needs. How to meet these?

What helped me a lot was the book "The Five Languages of Love" by Gary Chapman. The issue is not if there are four, five or whatever number of languages, but the point of the book is that people have a language in which they give and receive love, and they can (and likely will) be different! As it says on his website (http://www.fivelovelanguages.com/):

Your emotional love language and the language of your spouse may be as different as Chinese from English. No matter how hard you try to express love in English, if your spouse understands only Chinese, you will never understand how to love each other.


So it is very worthwhile to talk about this and understand BOTH what the other's main language is. Once that has been clarified, you can work towards expressing love in the language she understands.

I hope this helps, it has surely helped me.

[Randy Wise]

The Apostle Paul says in Philippians that husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the Church.

How did He love the Church?

Was the Church in existence when he was in his teaching ministry?

How are we to love our wives? I need to know how to do this better!

This is a serious question. I probably have not done enough research on this.

Jesus gave us the greatest love. While we were still sinners he layed down his life for us.
Randy

[Andrea Larabee]

Our guest speaker last Sunday metioned in his sermon that he has more Christian men with unbelieving wives in his home church than he does Christian wives with unbelieving husbands.

He prayed to the Lord what kind of advice he could give to these men (and all married men) regarding their wives. The Lord answered, "serve their wives". So he himself practiced the Lord's answer by asking his wife how he could help make her life easier. (I know, some men would never DARE do this!) Her answer was simply, "make the bed on Sunday mornings before church." And he has done just that!!!

Jesus came to serve not to be served.

"Pray for her" in all areas of her life would be another answer. Although, Paul, I'm 90% sure you do this anyway. The book, 'The Power of a Praying Husband' by Stormie Omartian (and her hubby) is a great book.

[Laurie Florence]

How are we to love our wives? I need to know how to do this better!


Paul, the very fact that you wrote the above quote tells me you are probably doing just fine in this regard.

[Andrea Larabee]

Love because He loves you.

Forgive because He has forgiven you. (and the church)

The Lord also called abiding Christians (the church) His "friends". I have seen Christian husbands treat the fellow co-workers and friends far better than they treat their own spouse.

I think in a marriage it is good to abide closely in the Lord, individually and together. When we stumble, disobey, and fall, "in a sense" we take our spouse and others down with us. Sadly.



**Not applying this to you Paul, just answering the question you gave. Thank you for the question. It has been thought provoking.**

[BobHunt]

I cant quote this verbatim, but there is something that says "Women were not taken from the man's head that they should be lorded over by man, nor were they taken from man's feet that they should be trampled on, but from man's side, that they should be loved, supported and be his equal." One of my pet peeves is seeing soceities where women walk behind their men, as though they were a second thought, or maybe the third thought, or maybe their lives and opinions really didnt amount to anything. I really think it takes both to complete the circle and to make a house a home and to make a home a family. Where one or the other is missing, it shows up in a difficiency in the children. Momma pulls the home together. What does this love consist of? Most people will say the lovy stuff, but I think it consists of so many things, for example, fixing him a special meal; a back rub or a foot massage when one is exremely tired or stessed out; help with the house work when your wife already works a full time job out; and little things like picking up after yourself and her too sometimes. This stuff is extremely unpopular to some, but both working to make a house a home will bring success so much faster. Maybe it is knowing the precise time to say an encouraging word,or letting her/him know that you believe in her/him.
Ahhhh..........maybe I better stop rambling.