For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her. (Ephesians 5:25, NLT)
My wife started to play golf more than 15 years ago. This, in my mind, was a miracle.
Susan would play some company scrambles to accommodate me in our first 20 years of marriage. It was one of those things where she did it to honor her husband. I appreciated it, but I knew she was not having a great time.
Flowers and candy are a nice beginning, but it is faithfulness, care, and sacrifice that sustain a marriage through the years.Then it happened! My wife and five of the other wives in our life group decided to take a series of golf lessons from my son’s high school golf coach. Guess what? My wife was suddenly hooked! She realized she could hit the ball up in the air; more important, she was having fun playing with other women and then with me in the couples game at our golf club.
Picture this: I would come home and my wife was glued to the TV watching Golf Channel and reading golf magazines. I said to myself, “This is something I would have never imagined!” Now I have won more tournaments with my wife than any guy partners. Susan and I play golf with other couples on a regular basis, and this for me has included getting to know a whole other side of the membership at our club.
I play with one Links Player who is twice as big a me and crushes the ball. We play with our normal Saturday guys game, but we also play with our wives. His wife started learning to play golf a few years ago and now she loves it. Seeing them together is so cute. You might think this couple were newlyweds if you saw them on the golf course. My friend, a very serious golfer, is like a teddy bear around his wife and it’s so fun to see.
Today’s scripture was a message from Paul to the church of Ephesus. The apostle was teaching the believing men to love their wife as Christ loved the church. I have asked some of our Links Players what that means to them. The responses include the obvious: to die for your wife. Now, that’s a big deal!
We have a Links Player whose wife has Alzheimer’s and he admits it’s been a tough year, but he loves his wife so much that he would do whatever it takes to care for her. I am blessed to see him care for her and it’s a great example of Christ. Another guy at our club, his wife had a stroke a few years ago; she is in a wheelchair and cannot speak well. He brings her to the club weekly, so she can get out and visit with her friends. This kind of love is not easy, but that is how Christ loved the church.
As a husband of almost 37 years, this passage reminds me how blessed I am to be married to my wife. But as wonderful as she is, I need to be reminded all the time that I am to love her like Christ loved the church. Yes, I would be willing to give up my life for her.
The love in a godly marriage goes both ways (see Ephesians 5:24), but when I provide premarital counseling, I urge men to take the lead. Show Christ to your wife in the way that you love her. Flowers and candy are a nice beginning, but it is faithfulness, care, and sacrifice that sustain a marriage through the years.
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Dereck Wong
February 14, 2017
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.