So men, “Love your wife, as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.” Love your wife as a man loves his body, as a head would love the body, as recognizing her as being utterly indispensable, and then love your wife as you love yourself. Regard yourself innately and inherently as of prime importance, and begin to see her in exactly the same light.

Some of you are saying, “Stuart, we know you believe the Bible. We know you know all this stuff, and we know it’s your job as a preacher to tell us all this stuff, but come on, man, get real! This is all so idealistic!” I don’t dispute, it’s idealistic, but let me tell you something. You need ideals, because if you ignore ideals you’ll settle for that which is unacceptable, and call it real. If you don’t have ideals, there’s no possibility of growth, there’s no possibility of maturity; if there’s no possibility of maturity, there’s no possibility of development. You stay in the morass of mediocrity and excuse it as the real world. Always remember, he who aims at nothing, will hit it!

Scripture isn’t just talking ideals; it is presenting us with truth and then saying, “Here’s the truth, and here’s the means to do it.” For this is lived “in the fullness of the Spirit.” This is all dependent on living in the fullness of the Spirit.

So, “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord,” in the context of us all being submitted to each other. “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church.” I don’t know if you ever realized this, but love and submission are basically the same thing! It’s just submitting one to the other because we regard the other as of prime importance.

Let’s just spend a few minutes thinking quietly about some things. Here’s the first thing: is my view of marriage a biblical view or is it a twenty-first century secular view?

Here’s something else to think about. If I accept the biblical view, how adequately am I fulfilling my role as outlined in Scripture?

Third, as I consider how adequately I’m fulfilling my role, are there grounds for confession and repentance and rectification?

Fourth, do I understand what it means to live in dependence upon God's Spirit who indwells me because I’ve submitted my life to the lordship of Christ?

“Lord, you know the ponderings of our hearts. You know the decisions that we need to make. Our prayer is very simple: By your gracious Holy Spirit lead us to do what is right, that we might live well and bring You glory and be a blessing. We pray in the Name of Christ, our Lord! Amen.”