LOVE ISLAND - WEEK THREE - DAY THREE
Hello and welcome to your Daily Devos following our Love Island messages at 29:11! Take some time today to read through the scriptures provided, meditate on the lessons learned that are applicable for all of us from this week and journal your prayers. Have an amazing week 29:11 Church!
THEME SCRIPTURE:
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 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. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Ephesians 5:21-33 NIV
TODAY’S PASSAGE:
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church
Ephesians 5:25-28
REFLECTION:
A husband is a leader. Historically, this has been generally true across various cultures and societies. The Bible supports this view, as seen in Ephesians 5. However, in today's world, this idea can be controversial and even offensive to some. Modern society often views calling the husband the leader of the family as oppressive to the wife and children. This perspective partly arises from a history of abuses of this leadership role, leading to negative perceptions. Despite these views and past abuses, the truth remains: a husband is a leader.
The biblical mantle of leadership given to the husband is not a light burden. Husbands are called to lead with love, specifically the selfless love Christ has for His church. This love brings cleansing, purity, and holiness through the Word. Husbands are also called to lead with sacrifice, setting aside selfish ambitions for the family's good. Their leadership should make their wife and children's lives easier. This responsibility is heavy, which is why many men give up trying. Nonetheless, this is the calling for husbands.
Here lies the crucial insight: in our own strength, we are bound to fail. Many men relinquish this mantle because it seems too heavy to bear. They forget one fundamental truth: our success comes not from our strength but from His. This may sound like a familiar Christian saying, but it holds profound truth. When husbands, as leaders, acknowledge their inability to fulfill this role alone and instead rely on the cross, they find His strength lifting them up. Suddenly, they can bear the mantle not through their own strength, but through embracing their brokenness and receiving His strength as a substitute.
THOUGHTS TO PONDER:
The husband has the mantle of leadership within the family unit. This is a biblical truth. Take a moment to reflect on this. Do you find this concept easy to believe or difficult to accept? Consider how you define a leader versus how the Bible defines a leader. Is there a difference? Men, ask yourselves: are you allowing yourselves to lead as Christ leads? Women, ask yourselves: are you allowing the men in your lives to lead?
