I have been working a favorite subject of mine more lately. That is the Creative Power of Love. It is a little bit funny how discussions about love often get blank stares from men, but the rapt attention of their wives. Why is that?

One reason, I believe, is that women are nurturers by nature. They are relational creatures. You can hear this when women get together. They’ll talk about their husbands, children, and other relationships in their lives.

When men get together you won’t hear discussions of how their family relationships are going. Although it isn’t a hard and fast rule, for the most part men are going to talk about their goals, their job, or a project they are working on. In this light its interesting to me how God addresses the man and his wife in the book of Ephesians.

^KJV Ephesians 5:33

Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

The man doesn’t have to be told to respect his wife, and the woman doesn’t have to be told to love her husband. I can respect my wife but not love her. My wife can love me but not respect me. We both need to be told to do what doesn’t come naturally. For the purpose of this study I want to focus on the man’s responsibility—to love his wife as Christ loved the church.

When a man gets married he and his bride go through a honeymoon period. How long this phase of married life lasts differs according to the individuals involved. You may have heard some people claim, “We’ve been married for thirty years and we’re still on our honeymoon.” Right.