FAMILY DUTIES- LOVE

Text:Colossians 3:19.

Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.

The English word 'husband' simply means to manage carefully the way a farmer carefully cultivates a plant.

No one cultivates a plant by punching, cursing or neglecting it, rather, you nurse it daily with care and ensure necessary nutrients is supplied.

In the same vein, a husband should carefully cultivate his wife in love and ensure she gets well nourished so she can blossom to maturity. 

Not every man is a husband, you only take on that name when you become married to a woman. 

Now, this name comes with its responsibility. 

If you are not ready or mature to shoulder the responsibility of being a husband, then you should remain single.

However, it's important to note that it takes a responsible single man to be a responsible husband.

The role of a man as husband is contained in LOVE. Love here is not a feeling, emotions or sensation, it is a responsibility that only those who follow Jesus' steps can shoulder. 

The devil makes some people believe that all they need to be a responsible husband is money. This is a big lie. If not, every rich fellow should have a good marriage, but we know this is not so.

Ephesians 5:25 says Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;  

Whoever lacks the knowledge of how Christ loved the church, lacks the understanding of what it means to love his wife. 

Christ loved the church while we were yet sinners. Romans 5:8 says " *But God demonstrates his love for us by the fact that Christ died for us while we were still sinners.* 

So dear husbands, you are not loving your wife because she is perfect and impeccable, rather, your love looks beyond her faults and brings out the perfection in her.

Because God knows there is tendency for the husband to be harsh or bittered against his wife, that is why He quickly added (from our text) that he should not be harsh with her.

HUSBAND LOVE YOUR WIFE AND DON'T BE HARSH TOWARDS HER.

If you are a man (Married or yet to marry) pray for wisdom to know the depth of Christ's love towards the church that you may know how to truly love your wife.

If you are a woman, pray for all the men around you, be it young or old that grace will be poured on them to know how to love their wives.

When the man and woman know and do their roles as given by the Lord, our society will be a better place for us all.

     

 Bible reading: Colossians 3:18-25.