Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

33a Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself;

Colossians 3:19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

Proverbs 5:18 and 19 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth…and be thou ravished always with her love.

Titus 2:4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children.

I Corinthians 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked,thinketh no evil;

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

MEMORY VERSE: And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. —I Peter 4:8

CENTRAL THOUGHT: The home is to be, first of all, a place of love. Husbands and wives are to love each other, and parents are to love their children, and all members of the family are to love each other with the self-sacrificing, affectionate, enduring love of Christ.

WORD DEFINITIONS

Ephesians 5:25 “Love”: to have a preference for; wish well to; regard the welfare of.

29 “Nourisheth”: sustain; nurture. “cherisheth”: to warm; foster; comfort.

Colossians 3:19 “Bitter”: embittered; angry; indignant; harsh; exasperated; irritated.

Proverbs 5:18 “Let thy fountain be blessed”: This is speaking of the wife, also referred to in the previous verses as “thy cistern” and “thy well.” It may either be an admonition: “Let thy wife be blessed with your care and love”; or it pronounces a blessing, as in “May your wife be fruitful and blessed with children.”

I Corinthians 13:4 “Charity”: affection; good will; love; benevolence. “Suffereth long”: have patience; persevere; forbear. “Is kind”: full of service; gentle; acts benevolently; shows mildness. “Envieth not”: is not moved with jealousy, hatred or anger. “Vaunteth not itself”: does not brag or show off. “Is not puffed up”: is not arrogant, egotistical, inflated with self-importance, or proud.

I Corinthians 13:5 “Doth not behave itself unseemly”: does not act improperly, unbecomingly or indecently. “Seeketh not her own”: does not desire or seek its own praise, honor, profit, or pleasure to the hurt of others. “Is not easily provoked”: from a root meaning a sharp edge; therefore, provoke means to jab; irritate; arouse to anger. “Thinketh no evil”: does not impute, or keep account of, evil; does not remember or meditate upon the evil, but takes a charitable view toward it.

I Corinthians 13:6 “Rejoiceth not in iniquity”: is not glad about injustice, unrighteousness or hurt. “But rejoiceth in the truth”: or with the truth. It rejoices when the truth triumphs, unlike a false “charity” which compromises truth by glossing over iniquity.

I Corinthians 13:7 “Beareth all things”: literally, to cover closely, as with a roof, to keep water out; to bear up under; to endure patiently. “The charitable man contains himself in silence from giving vent to what selfishness would prompt under personal hardship.”— Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary. “Believeth all things”: to have faith or confidence in. “Takes the best and kindest views of all men and all circumstances, as long as it is possible to do so.”—Pulpit Commentary. “Hopeth all things”: expects; trusts. The opposite to gloom, it hopes when others have lost hope. “Endureth all things”: to remain under the load; bear up against; persevere; have fortitude.

I Peter 4:8 “Fervent”: deep; intense; earnest; constant. “For charity shall cover a multitude of sins”: having the love of Christ that forgives sins. Refers to Proverbs 10:12. “Puts the best constructions upon the words and actions of fellow Christians, and does not take them up, and improve and exaggerate them, but lets them lie buried in oblivion: it takes no notice of injuries, offences, and affronts, but overlooks them, bears with them, and forgives them, so that they are never raked up, and seen any more; which prevents much scandal, strife, and trouble.” —Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible.

LESSON BACKGROUND

The context of Paul’s admonitions to husbands and wives in the book of Ephesians is the analogy he is drawing between Christ and the church and marriage. When we have a good understanding of that relationship—of Christ’s sacrificial love and the corresponding obedience and reverence of His beloved—we then can have a better understanding of the kind of love we should have toward each other in the home.

In the letter to the Corinthians, the qualities of this kind of love are given in great detail. We get a clear, composite picture of the many facets of love and its practical workings in everyday life, and the resulting peace and harmony in the home.

Marriage is God’s institution; it is His design. He gave the supreme example of it in the sacrifice of His Son and in His love for the church; it is this example that we should earnestly strive for and emulate.

—Sis. Angela Gellenbeck

DISCUSSION:

1. The Perfect Example: Describe the kind of love that Christ manifested. How may a husband show this in real life?

2. The Willing Response: What kind of response does this sacrificial love invoke in the wife? How does this reveal itself in everyday living?
3. A Necessary Admonition: According to Titus 2, the older women are to teach the younger women to love their husbands and children. Why is this necessary? Is this something that will just happen naturally?

   COMMENTS AND APPLICATION

    

    

Here’s a picture of love gleaned from real-life examples:

Love is a man always putting the comfort, pleasure and happiness of his wife ahead of his own.

Love is a wife thinking constantly of her husband’s needs and desires and putting forth the strength and time of her whole day to meet those needs—without always being asked.

Love is a son who lays aside his wants and dreams in life to assist and be a blessing to his father who is not well.

Love is a daughter being a best friend to her mother—sharing with her, helping her, praising her, encouraging her.

Love is a mother staying up all night to be beside a sick child, praying, getting drinks, cleaning up sick messes.

Love is a wife taking the Biblical steps to forgive and restore the erring husband and never broadcasting the story of his weakness to others.

Love is a grandmother lying on the floor beside the bed of her granddaughter who has shingles, praying all times of the night until God takes all pain and itching away completely.

Love is a husband who cleans up the kitchen for his sick wife—after working twelve hours on his own job.

Love is a dad who is dead tired after a hard day, reading stories to his toddlers.

—Sis. Angela Gellenbeck

REFLECTIONS

“For God so loved, that he gave. . . .” Giving is a reflection of the love that God has put down in our hearts. Many of my fondest childhood memories wrap around my Grandma, whom I dearly miss. Her home always meant warmth, acceptance, stability. I loved staying at Grandpa and Grandma’s, although the snoring would often hinder me from getting to sleep.

I remember the many times she held me in her bosom and rocked me to sleep in the woodenrockingchair. Irememberthebeautifulcoloredchicksshewouldbuyinearlyspringand keep in a cardboard box by the stove until they got a little larger. She always seemed available to take me and stay for my school activities and afterwards we would go eat. I also remember the wheat harvests, riding with Grandpa on the combine or with Grandma in the truck in the hot summer sun.

I went with her on many trips to visit her sisters, brothers and family. There were also all the times she loaded me and a lawnmower in the truck to help her on rental houses. She would single-handedly load up us cousins and haul us off to camp-meeting, stopping by a fruit stand on the way.

I don’t remember her giving extraordinarily; it was just the ordinary, everyday stuff that counted. She was there. I remember her often calling me from her back porch—”Bobby, supper is ready”. I could smell the fried chicken as I raced to the back door and I knew that mashed potatoes and gravy went with it!

—Bro. Bob Wilson