Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
– Ephesians 5:25
When we talk about love, we often think of it in abstract terms—a feeling, a romantic sentiment, an emotional high. But Christ’s love for the Church was not abstract at all. It was concrete, costly, and active. Our sins were the problem. We were at fault. Yet Christ bore the blame. He stood in our place, taking the penalty we deserved, so that we might be forgiven and restored. This is the standard of love Paul holds up for husbands: to cover their wives’ shortcomings, not by ignoring them, but by willingly bearing the cost themselves through self-sacrifice.
Such love is profoundly difficult for husbands, because it calls for the death of pride, the laying down of rights, and the choice to bear another’s burdens without resentment. And yet this is exactly what Christ has done for His Bride. His willingness to take the blame for what was not His fault shows just how much He truly loves the Church. What a wonderful and safe thing it is, then, for the Church to submit to such a loving Husband—one whose leadership is marked by self-giving love, not selfish demand.