"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."

Ephesians 5:25

In Ephesians, there's a very specific call to men to imitate Christ and that is specifically in regards to the way that Christ loves His wife, the church. But how can a husband truly love his wife as Christ loved the church and what does that look like on a practical level?

I think it is impossible for us men to love like Christ on our own. John 15:13 says, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."

We can't love at the level Jesus loves and we can definitely not top it, but we can be reflections of it. Dirty and distorted reflections maybe but the goal is to get as close as we possibly can. The only way we will ever be able to do this is to experience Christ's love more and more for ourselves.  After all, how can we mirror something we have not tasted or seen?

As we experience more of Jesus as husbands, we can then be mirrors of Christ to our wives. "What has she ever done to deserve that kind of love??" More than you'll ever know when you really think about it, but even Jesus gave love to the church whether she deserved it or not. Here are three practical ways husbands can love their wives as a reflection of the way Christ loves the church.

Be Her Source

Ephesians 5:23 says, "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." The word "head" here has very little to do with rulership or domination, but has more to do with being the source. As husbands, we can be a source for our wives, and I'm not just talking about shopping money.

A husband is only as good as the amount of love, joy, provision and peace that He receives from Christ because it's when we let that flow to our spouses, our jobs and our children that we function best. As Christ is our source, we can be a sort of source to our wives.

Sacrifice for Her

It's unimaginable to give a back massage without getting one in return, I know, but if Christ could love the church and sacrifice for us when there's no way we can do the same for Him, we can definitely do the same for our wives. Ephesians 5:25 says, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."

Serve Her

As husbands are called to lead, we are to respond to the biblical and God-version of leadership. Luke 22:26 says, "But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves."

In the kingdom of God, leadership is more about serving than managing. Are you in the process of serving your wife and your whole household as Christ has served you?