VERSE OF THE DAY
Ephesians 5:25-26 (New Living Translation)
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For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.
To husbands, this means responsibility of you is to love your wives as Christ loves and cherished the church. For he gave up his life for her no hesitation to make her holy and cleansed, washed by the cleansing of God making her pure.
Husbands, love your wives the same as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. He died to make the church holy. He used the telling of the Good News to make the church clean by washing it with water.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy.
Thoughts on Today’s Verse…
For husbands, there is sacrificial love in our purpose and purpose in our sacrifice. We give up ourselves to love our wives. Jesus is our example here, and he gave up everything. His purpose? To make us holy and beautiful to God. Our motives are to be equally as sacrificial and pure in surrendering our rights to bless and love our wives. As Paul reminds us in Ephesians 5:21, we too are to submit, but this does not mean spinelessness, it means service and sacrifice to bless and bring glory to Christ.
My Prayer…
Holy God, help our families to be full of love and may this begin with me, today, in my family. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
What Does Ephesians 5:25 Mean? ►
Husbands, love your wives, just as also Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her,
Ephesians 5:25(HCSB)
Verse Thoughts
The Lord Jesus is the federal head of the new creation and the very personification of love – for the Man Christ Jesus was also the eternal Son of God united in one human body – One in Spirit with the Father and yet a true kinsman of humankind – and Christ loved His God and Christ loved His bride – the Church.
We read that GOD so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to be the sacrifice for sin – and Christ was made sin for the accumulated sin of the whole world in loving obedience to the Father, for He cried not My will but Thine be done – and through His shed blood, the sin of the world was forgiven. But we also read that CHRIST so loved the Church that He gave Himself for her.
Christ gave Himself willingly for love of the Church – (who is His body), so that He could make her holy… cleansing her with the washing of water by the Word – and that in so doing He could present her to Himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless in the sight of God.
It was His sacrificial death that paid the price for the sin of the whole world and it was His glorious resurrection that enabled all those that believe on His name – (i.e. the Church) to be sanctified and made holy in Him. LOVE was His motivating factor… love for God and love for His Bride – who is the Church. And a precious parallel is drawn between the mystic union of Christ with His Church and the sacred union of a husband with his wife. Just as Christ loved the Church so much that He gave Himself for her, so husbands are called to love their wives in the same way that Christ loves us.
Those that are called to be children of Light and imitators of Christ are also called to live godly lives in Christ Jesus, so that through the power or His Spirit, they are enabled to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before God – in love. What a difference there would be in the body of Christ today, if we were to apply all that is written in the Word of God, in our own lives and marriages – if wives were to submit to their own husbands and husbands were to love their wives as Christ loves the Church.
Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/ephesians-5-25
Ephesians 5:25 Meaning of Husbands Love Your Wives
Aug 27, 2020 by Editor in Chief
Ephesians 5:25
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”
Explanation and Commentary of Ephesians 5:25
As Paul states, marriage is a profound mystery (Eph 5:32) concerning Christ and the bride that is so precious to him that he gave up his life in order to sanctify her and make her holy (Eph 5:26). We did not have the opportunity to witness Jesus in a marriage to a woman during his earthly ministry. He was a celibate. However, we can learn everything we need to know about being godly husbands by witnessing his divine headship over his Church. To love a wife as Christ loved the Church is to lay down your life for her.

We first give up ourselves when we take wedding vows. That is, we give up ourselves as we were when we were single. We become one flesh. Adam gave up at least a rib to have a wife, but Christ gave his whole life for his Church. We die to the possibility of breaking asunder “what God has joined” (Mk 10:9) when we lock the door and throw away the key on the marriage in commitment until death do us part.
That is only the first time a righteous husband will die for his wife. He will die when she is upset and emotional if he can keep his calm and be her tender rock. He will die when he gives up what he wants for what she wants. He will die when he washes her with the Word (Eph 5:26), instead of spending his time fulfilling personal desires. He will die when he is tempted to look to another person, even his wife, for a sense of identity and self-worth, but she is unable to give it to him. A good husband will die when his bride is being unreasonable, and he cannot give in but must lead as the head, knowing that God will hold him accountable if he gives in to avoid the pain of her displeasure.

Breaking Down the Key Parts of Ephesians 5:25
#1 “Husbands,”
God designed the marriage covenant to be for one man and one woman. God is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of the man, and the husband is the head of his wife (1 Cor 11:3). It is a privilege and a blessing for a man to be called to this role.
#2 “love your wives,”
While men respond best to respect (Eph 5:33), wives will respond best to a show of love. This is how God designed men and women. A wife will flourish who is loved, and who feels loved.

#3 “just as Christ loved the church,”
Our model for marriage and being godly husbands is Christ. His bride is his Church.
#4 “and gave himself up for her…”
The most important marriage lesson we learn from Christ is to die for our wives, physically if necessary, but spiritually every day. This is only one way that God calls all men to “take up our cross” and follow Jesus (Mt 16:24). Once we take on this role of being the head of a woman, we live out the maximum expression of servant leadership.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word. – Ephesians 5:25-26
Dear Jesus,
When I was a young man (hate to admit it) I loved my wife largely for what I got from her, that is; love attention, romance, help and support. But you define the love you want me to have. It’s a love that gives and gives it all. This is a love that makes us die to ourselves and sacrifice our desires to make our wives lives holy and happy. It’s a love that makes us patiently teach our wives the word of God, a love that forgives and blesses even when it’s being hurt. It’s the love you give us in your grace and the blessed sacraments. Oh, Jesus fill me with yourself and love my wife and family through me.
Amen
Pastor Don Patterson
Love that gives never wonders what it has received in return.
What does Ephesians 5:25 mean?
After addressing wives in verses 22 through 24, Paul switches focus to husbands. The first and foremost priority for a godly husband is to love his wife—with a particular emphasis on action. Paul also provides a high standard for the love a husband should express to his wife: the example of Christ for the community of believers. The husband’s love should involve a deep, lifelong commitment and the willingness to make any sacrifices necessary on her behalf.
Husbands are called to a level of dedication which includes love unto death. Though given authority as the leader of the family, the corresponding responsibility is often overlooked. A husband must love his wife, dedicate his life to staying with his wife, and be willing to die for his wife if need be. Women are obligated to submission in marriage (Ephesians 5:22–24), and the modern world often rejects this principle. Nevertheless, the Bible’s standard for husbands could certainly use better application among today’s Christian men, as they seek to be “imitators of God” (Ephesians 5:1).
Context Summary
Ephesians 5:22–33 is an often-cited but frequently misunderstood passage. Here, Paul explains how Christian husbands and wives should apply their understanding of salvation within their marriage. Wives are commanded to ”submit” to their husbands as they would to Christ, and to show them respect. Often overlooked, however, is that men are equally obligated. Husbands are told to love their wives as Christ loved the church: with humility and sacrifice, as if caring for their own bodies. Despite popular myth, the Bible does not permit either sex to be abusive or unloving within a marriage.
Chapter Summary
Chapter 5 begins with an admonition to imitate Christ. In order to do so, Christians must avoid sexual immorality, vulgar language, foolishness, and other inappropriate attitudes. Paul warns that those who persist in these behaviors are not part of the kingdom of God. The passage then transitions to an explanation of mutual submission, including that between husbands and wives. Wives are to submit to their husbands, and respect them. Husbands are to love their wives in a Christ-like, sacrificial, and humble way.
Understanding Marriage from Ephesians 5


Marriage Series – David Guzik
• In this message David Guzik looks at two foundational ideas essential to understanding the Christian marriage: that family is important to God, and that Christianity makes a difference in marriage.
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• 2. Spiritual Preparation for Marriage – Ephesians 5:14-21
• How what God tells us about everyday Christian living can impact our marriage and family.
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• 3. What Submission Is – Ephesians 5:21
• Submission is a wide concept in the Christian life, not only dealing with marriage. Understanding what submission is and is not.
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• 4. Submission in Marriage – Ephesians 5:22-24
• How God’s direction for submission in marriage practically works – and makes sense.
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• 5. Reasons for a Wife’s Submission – Ephesians 5:22-24
• God not only tells us what to do; He also often tells us why. In Ephesians 5 we learn many reasons for submission in marriage.
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• 6. What Love Is – Ephesians 5:25
• Love never works in marriage unless we really understand what God means by love.
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• 7. The Shared Life – Ephesians 5:25-32
• God has a high goal for the Christian marriage – a genuinely shared life.
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• 8. Oneness in Marriage – Ephesians 5:28-32
• What oneness in marriage means, what prevents it, and how to grow in it.
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• 9. The Transformed Marriage – Ephesians 5:33
• How God wants the Christian marriage to move onward, and upward.
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What does Ephesians chapter 5 mean?
Chapter 5 covers two important themes: obedience to the example of Christ, and the relationship between husbands and wives. First, Paul discusses how believers are to be imitators of God through a focus on the love demonstrated by Christ (Ephesians 5:1–21). Second, wives and husbands are given clear biblical teachings regarding mutual love and submission in relationship to Christ (Ephesians 5:22–33).
The first section (Ephesians 5:1–21) encourages believers to imitate God like loving children (Ephesians 5:1). Sexual impurity is not to be known among believers (Ephesians 5:3). The same is true of foolish talk (Ephesians 5:4). Non-believers are marked by a persistent pattern of these behaviors (Ephesians 5:5). Believers are not to be deceived by lies (Ephesians 5:6) and must not be partners with those who deceive (Ephesians 5:7). Yes, believers once lived in this way, but are no longer walking in darkness (Ephesians 5:8).
Believers are to find out what pleases God (Ephesians 5:10). Believers should take no part in sin, but rather expose sin (Ephesians 5:11). This does not require us to be vulgar or offensive in discussing sinful acts (Ephesians 5:12). Paul then quotes from what was likely part of an early Christian song in verse 14. He encourages believers to walk with wisdom (Ephesians 5:15).
Believers are to make the most of their time, because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16). Paul encouraged readers to understand the will of God (Ephesians 5:17) and not become drunk on wine (Ephesians 5:18). Instead, believers are to be filled with the Spirit, praising the Lord and giving thanks to Him (Ephesians 5:18–20). Believers should also submit to one another out of respect for Christ (Ephesians 5:21).
The second part of this chapter (Ephesians 5:22–33) addresses mutual submission between husband and wife. Ephesians 5:22–24 focuses first on wives. They are called to submit to their husbands as to the Lord (Ephesians 5:22), with Paul using the analogy of Christ and the church as an example (Ephesians 5:23–24).
Husbands are then addressed and called to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25). They are to love their wives as they do their own bodies, teaching that the man who loves his wife loves himself (Ephesians 5:28). Paul transitions to a reference to Genesis 2:24, noting the mystery is profound between Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:32). In summary, Paul reminds husbands to love their wives as they do themselves and for wives to respect their husbands (Ephesians 5:33).
Book Summary
Ephesians follows a theme common in Paul’s writings: connecting theory with practice. In this book, however, he goes into greater depth before making the transition. As a letter meant to be read by more than just the believers at Ephesus, this is an important look at how Christian belief should translate into Christian action. The first three chapters lay out spiritual ideas, the last three chapters show how these truths should be applied in the life of a mature believer. Paul focuses heavily on love, the unity of the Christian church, and the incredible value of our salvation through Christ.
Chapter Context
Chapter 5 continues the very practical second half of the book of Ephesians. Chapter 4 encouraged Christians not to live as unbelievers do, but worthy of the gift we have been given. Chapter 5 gives even more direct application of these principles. Paul details impure attitudes and habits which Christians ought to put aside. He then details the proper approach to marriage, rooted in a Christian understanding of the gospel. This style of advice will continue through chapter 6. Paul’s advice will culminate in a famous analogy about applying Christian principles to all of life, using the symbolism of a suit of armor
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