In Ephesians Paul declared for husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church. How did Christ do that?
He died for her so she might be sanctified by the washing of the water of the Word. Marriage is ministry and weapon in the hand of God. The ministry of marriage flows from cruciformity: being confirmed to the image of the crucified Christ.
Ephesians 5:25-26 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.”
The ministry of the husband comes from dying to self to bring life to our spouse. For example, saying to your spouse, “I did the dishes and changed a diaper, now leave me alone” does not show love in action. True love is manifesting the life of God because God is love. His love is a sacrificial lifestyle not a momentary decision.
The husband’s lifestyle should model the narrative of the cruciform life as the inspired story of the crucified Christ. The charismatic spirit is the cruciform spirit, therefore, a husband who moves in gifts in public but kills his wife with words in private is preaching a different gospel, moving in a different spirit and presenting another Jesus (2 Cor. 11:4).
The same power and spirit that allows us to move in charismatic gifts is produced from the same power and spirit that allows us to live a crucified life. When we separate the two, we are acting as a false witness and hypocrite and speaking death instead of life.
The paradox is the “life” of the husband is found in the “death walk” of being conformed to the image of the crucified Christ. Let our wives see the wounds of Christ in us. We are to manifest the wounds of the living Word to our wives, not wound them with our own words. May healing flow to marriages as husbands live out the narrative of the crucified Christ.
In this podcast, we share our journey of the good and bad in marriage, family and ministry to offer some encouragement for couples or those who are waiting to be married.
To hear more of this revelatory word, listen to the podcast here. {eoa}
Wayland Henderson‘s latest book, Walking with God: Repairing the Breach and Restoring the Ancient Path to Discipleship can be purchased here.
