"...To love their husbands..."

The next section I want to focus on from Titus 2:4-5 is this, "...to love their husbands." Reading that upon first glance, I'm probably quick to give it a big 'ole "DUH", but I think there is so much more to this little phrase than the credit we give.

The word "love" in this passage is translated from the Greek word "philandros" which means "to be husband loving." Again, because I want to know the real meaning of words not our distorted conception, let's go to the Websters 1828 dictionary to find a deeper meaning of the word "love".

Love

1. A feeling of strong attachment induced by that which delights or commands admiration; preëminent kindness or devotion to another; affection; tenderness.

2. Especially, devoted attachment to, or tender or passionate affection for, one of the opposite sex.

(There were other entries, but none that pertained to the union between husband and wife.)

Do you love your husband? Do I really love my husband? Is it such a strong attachment that induces feelings of admiration from others? Do I show kindness and devotion to him? Do I have a tender and passionate affection for him? These are hard questions to answer sometimes. Like when he's left his dirty socks in the bathroom for the trillionth time, or when he goes to a softball game and leaves me home with 4 sick kids, am I addressing him with kindness and devotion? (These situations never happen, they're hypothetical events...really they are.)

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the majority of us weren't taught how to really love our husbands. We weren't taught how to be completely devoted to them. In fact, I would venture to say that most of us even had a "back up" plan at one point. "Well, if this doesn't work out at least I could always _______." Look around you, how are our men being portrayed in the media? Show me one instance where a man is the head of the home, he's successful, and he has a devoted, loving wife with obedient children. It doesn't happen. Instead, we're filling our minds with dopey men and overbearing, controlling wives, with kids who are out of control. What message are we sending our daughters? What hope of a biblical marriage will they ever have with examples such as these?

Well, we can't control the media; but we can control our hearts and our actions. This is going to call for a total mind overhaul. To truly love our husbands, we must put his needs above our own. Yep, there it is, did you put your steel-toed boots back on? I said it....We've got to put our husbands needs before our own. Ouch!! Lord, help me here...this won't be easy! Seriously, this week let's explore ways to really love our husbands...don't blush, I won't be going there...this is a family blog! ;)