One slide Sunday said out loud what a lot of men think quietly.
"I'm not happy, I'm out."
Then the next line flipped it. Love your wife and surrender your life.
The idea
That trend rarely starts with a big blowup. It starts small. You feel unappreciated. Unseen. Tired.
So you pull back a little. Then a little more. You're still in the house. You're just not in the marriage anymore.
Paul doesn't leave room for that. Ephesians 5:25 says husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.
Gave Himself up. That's the standard. Not when it felt good. Not when she earned it.
Here's what got me. Christ didn't love the church because she was already spotless. He loved her so she could become spotless.
His love went first. It didn't wait for her to get better. It made her better.
Most of us have that backwards. We'll love her well once she changes. Jesus never loved anybody that way. Thank God He didn't love us that way either.
Culture hears "head of the wife" and thinks boss. Scripture says the head is the one who goes to the cross first. You lead by laying down, not by lording over.
Then Peter adds a line that should stop every married man cold. Live with your wife in an understanding way, showing her honor, so your prayers won't be hindered.
How you treat her at the dinner table shows up in your prayer life. You don't get to be cold at home and close to God at the same time.
Happiness is a feeling. Covenant is a promise. The man who holds fast when he doesn't feel it is the man who actually loves like Jesus.
Bobbie and I have been married since 1992. Plenty of those days, happy wasn't the word. Faithful had to be.
A question to sit with
Where are you waiting to feel happy before you'll love her the way Christ loves you?
Sit with that one before you move on with your day.
This is the kind of thing we hold each other to every week inside Brotherhood Forged, men who help each other stay in when everything says get out.
Every brotherhood starts with one guy forwarding this to another guy. Be that guy.
Brotherhood Forged doesn't have a big sponsor behind it. It has guys like you who read it, forward it, and sometimes chip in. If you're able to help this week, thank you. If not, you're still exactly who this is for.
Give here or send it via PayPal to [email protected].