Daily Devotional
By Pastor Jerry Teboe
A Closer Walk with Christ in 2026
Ephesians 5:25-28
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, Eph 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. Eph 5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
Today, we will look at the role of the husband in marriage (in the context of the filling of the Spirit that we looked at before). Paul says to the husband, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.
Paul had much more to say to the Christian husbands than to the wives. He set for them a very high standard: Love your wives “even as Christ also loved the church.” Paul was lifting married love to the highest level possible, for he saw in the Christian home an illustration of the relationship between Christ and the church. God established marriage for many reasons. For one thing, it meets man’s emotional needs. “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis_2:18). Marriage also has a social purpose in the bearing of children to continue the race (Genesis_1:28). Paul indicated a physical purpose for marriage — to help man and woman fulfill the normal desires given them by God (1 Corinthians_7:1-3). But in Ephesians_5:1-33, Paul indicated also a spiritual purpose in marriage, as the husband and wife experience with each other the submission and the love of Christ (Ephesians_5:22-33).
If the husband makes Christ’s love for the church the pattern for loving his wife, then he will love her sacrificially (Ephesians_5:25). Christ gave Himself for the church, so the husband, in love, gives himself for his wife. Jacob so loved Rachel that he sacrificially worked fourteen years to win her. True Christian love “seeketh not her own” (1 Corinthians_13:5) — it is not selfish. If a husband is submitted to Christ and filled with the Spirit, his sacrificial love will willingly pay a price that she might be able to serve Christ in the home and glorify Him. (copied)
The husband has a key role in the home and marriage. God has set him to be the leader and head of the home by using Christ’s example of love for the church as the example for the husband. Therefore, we husbands have a special duty to make our home a “heaven on earth” and be the man of God that we are intended to be for our wives and children. We need to step up and take seriously our responsibility to lead in a godly manner and love as Christ loved. That will make a happy marriage.
Bible Reading for the Year
August 15th, Psalms 109-111; Romans 16
Prayer Needs
Please continue to pray for Shirley Deans. She is at home and getting stronger. She was able to have the chemo treatment. Pray that all will go well after it. The doctor said that she needs to continue to rest to build her body up.
Thank you for praying for Dr. Joe Jordan. He was able to go home from the hospital. He is on new medication. Please continue to pray for him.
Please continue to pray for Faye Smith, Jack Gargis’ sister. She has been transferred to a nursing home. She is doing some better, but still has a long way to go. The family appreciates your prayers.
Continue to pray for Jennifer Teboe Buchamer. Please keep praying for complete healing. She is still having side effects from the cancer. She had a Keytruda treatment. Pray for the treatment to be effective against the cancer. Her white blood cells are elevated. Pray for the infection to stay at bay.
Please continue to pray for Vickie Dalton. Pray for God’s healing. She was in the hospital to have a drainage tube put into her lung. She was able to go home but needs our prayers.
Linda Franks’ surgery has been rescheduled for August 31st.
Please continue to pray for Carolyn Tyson’s sister, Shirley Deal. She has been moved into the River Trace rehab center in Washington. She is showing some improvement.
Please continue to pray for Peggy Warren. She is facing some difficult challenges.
Please continue to pray for Robbie Harvey who has MAC lung disease. The doctor has prescribed a new medication, but he is not tolerating it well.
Please continue to pray for Marvin Silverthorne for his eyesight to improve.
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Pray for our Missionaries!
Sue Singleton and the mission in Cambodia
Dr. Joe Jordan and the CBM (Cross and Bible Ministries)
Travis and Caroline Fennessy – IBM missionaries to Southeast Asia