Blog » "Wives Need Loved. Husbands need respected" 

                                               Thursday, May 30, 2013 Jeff Lampl

 

“However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must

respect her husband.”           Ephesians 5:33 (NIV)

It is fascinating that the Bible never tells a woman to love her husband. She is told to respect him. 

A man is commanded to love his wife as Christ loves the Church. That’s a huge thing. In essence a man is told to give up everything, including his life, for his wife. It is interesting that many men find it easier to give up their lives in crises to protect their wives, than to say, “I’m sorry” to them. Men are built for risk and for heroic measures. Many men find entering danger easier than connecting emotionally.  

The flip side of this is that men respond to being respected in ways that they will never respond to be loved as woman might define love. 

The upshot of this is that every man must discover from his wife what love means to her and then love her in that way. Every woman must consistently look for all the ways (take nothing for granted) that she can affirm her respect for him, and then she must tell him.  

What if she isn’t loveable? What if he doesn’t deserve respect? The Bible doesn’t take that into account. We’re commanded to do it. It seems to me that there is something to affirm, love and respect in our spouses even in the worst of times, and it is especially in those times that we need that affirmation and need to give it. 

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT EVERYONE (especially wives!) READ THIS BOOK! You will be so glad that you did!!!! Love and Respect by Dr. Emmerson Eggerich