The need and application for showing grace to one another is perhaps no more clearly seen than between husbands and wives. The unity required in a marriage is continually under threat from the indwelling of sin, the absence of forgiveness, and a failure of husbands and wives to correctly understand their roles as God has purposed them. Paul addresses this need for unity as we reach chapter 5 of his letter to the Ephesians.

Ephesians 5:21-33

21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[b] 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Disciplines of a Godly Husband:

• Husbands, be willing to die to protect your family
• Your word is who you are – “until death do we part” – Husbands, don’t ever give up!
• Forgive and you will be forgiven
• Don’t be self-centered – focus on serving your wife
• It is better to give than to receive
• Use the gifts that God has given you
• Focus of what others need
• Work hard – be the BEST you can be
• Be the “right” kind of person
• The only behavior you can change is your own
• If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all
• Don’t judge until you’ve walked in another man’s shoes
• Life is full of tests, and testing builds perseverance and faith – don’t give up!