Level Up: Marriage

Marriage is not about me, it’s about we.

For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:24

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 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, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church-- for we are members of his body. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Ephesians 5:21-33

The number one need of a woman is to be unconditionally loved.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Ephesians 5:25

1. Husbands show their unconditional love for their wife by sacrificing for her.

2. Husbands show their unconditional love by overlooking her faults.

Love as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish but holy and blameless. Ephesians 5:25-27

3. Husbands show their unconditional love by caring for her.

In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church-- for we are members of his body. Ephesians 5:28-30

"Under three things the earth quakes, and under four it cannot bear up…an unloved woman when she gets a husband…. Proverbs 30:21-23

The number one need of a man is unconditional respect.

Submitting is when one of two equal partners voluntarily recognizes the God-given position of the other one.

Wives show unconditional respect by admiring their husbands.

…the wife must respect her husband. Ephesians 5:33

Weekly Check In Questions: 

- How did I make you feel loved this week?
- Is there anything you need that I have not been giving?
- Is there anything new you've learned about me this week?
- I need us to make more time for ___ next week.
- Is there anything I owe you an apology for?
- How can I be praying for you?
- What are your main stressors right now? How can I help?
- How would you rate our communication this week? What can we improve?
- Are we happy with the way we divide up household rules, responsibilities, and finances?