Bible Passage: “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24 NIV)
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 5:21; Ephesians 5:25-32
I like a good cup of coffee.
Correction: I like flavored creamer; therefore, I drink coffee so I don’t get judged.
What I notice about the two elements is how different they are. The coffee is a thin, dark liquid, while the creamer is thicker and an off-white color.
But it’s what happens when the two come together and become one drink that makes it so good.
Marriage is kind of the same. You have been your own man, and she has been her own woman. That is, until you come together at the marriage altar and the two of you become one.
But what does that moment do to our identity as men?
Simple:
It complicates it!
How? Two ways.
First, by taking a wife, you are saying that you are willing to share your identity with her. That means you are willing to trust her with the core of who you are. She is no longer just her own woman, but your wife.
And two, you are willing to reflect her identity in you. That means she is so important to you that you will make room for her identity in yours. You are no longer just your own man, but her husband.
In Ephesians 5, Paul gives instructions for husbands and wives. But what’s truly interesting is the foundation for these instructions—that your marriage reflects the relationship between Christ and His Church.
That means that Christ did the same thing He is asking husbands to do. He trusted the Church with His identity. And the Church has the responsibility to properly reflect Jesus’ identity to the world.
As a husband, when you said, “I do,” you also said, “I trust you with my identity and I will do my best to honor you as I reflect your identity, too.”
The question is how well you do this.
Do you have room in your identity to honorably reflect your wife’s identity? Honoring who she is as God made her to be? When others look at your marriage, do they see two separate individuals, or two separate individuals becoming one?
If you are not reflecting her identity in yours, but focused more on yourself, you might be more like the coffee and the creamer left in their individual cups, never mixing to become one better drink.
Prayer: Jesus, thank You for my wife. Help me better reflect her identity so that she is better seen in me, and You are better seen in us. Amen.
Reflection: Think about something that your wife does differently from you. Tell her today how much you appreciate that piece of her identity.
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