OUR DAILY BREAD : DWELL WITH UNDERSTANDING

[cimi]

February 12
Tuesday


DWELL WITH
UNDERSTANDING

READ:
Ephesians 5:25-33
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Husbands...dwell
with [your wives] with
understanding...that
your prayers may not be
hindered. __1 Peter 3:7
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My wife, Marlene, and I have been married for some 30 years, and have learned to appreciate each other and enjoy each other's unique qualities. But even after all these years she still surprises me from time to time. Recently, she reacted to a news report in a way that was opposite to what I expected. I told her, "Wow, that shocks me. I never would have thought you would land there on this issue." Her response? "Your job is to figure me out, and my job is to keep you guessing!" The responsibility to understand your spouse is what keeps married life interesting and stretching.

This is an ancient challenge. Peter wrote: "Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered" (1 Peter 3:7). He saw it as a priority for the husband to become a student of his wife--to know and understand her. Without that commitment to understanding his spouse, a husband is not capable of doing what comes next--honoring her.

As a husband, if I am to love my wife as Christ loves the chrurch (Eph. 5:25), it will begin with the intentional effort to grow in my understanding of her. __Bill Crowder
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Marriage thrives in a climate of love and respect

**************Today's Bible Reading __ Ephesians 5:25-33**********

25 Husbands, love your
wives, just as Christ also
loved the church and gave
Himself for her, 26 that He
might sanctify and cleanse
her with the washing of
water by the Word, 27 that
He might present her to
Himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle
or any such thing, but that
she should be holy and
without blemish. 28 So
husbands ought to love their
own wives as their own
bodies; he who loves his
wife loves himself. 29 For no
one ever hated his own
flesh, but nourishes and
cherishes it, just as the Lord
does the church. 30 For we
are members of His body, of
His flesh and of His bones.

31 "For this reason a man
shall leave his father and
mother and be joined to his
wife, and the two shall
become one flesh." 32 This is
a great mystery, but I speak
concerning Christ and the
church. 33 Nevertheless let
each one of you in particular
so love his own wife as
himself, and let the wife see
that she respects her
husband.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Here is a beautiful comparison of marriage between a man and
a woman and Christ's love for His bride, the church. In Romans
8:17, Paul uses the phrase "joint heirs" to describe the believer's
relationship with Christ. The phrase means "co-inheritors" and is
also used of Isaac and Jacob (Heb. 11:9) and of a husband and wife
united in the Lord (1 Peter 3:7). __HDF