Ephesians 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their 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 Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Lord, we lift our up to you today, recognizing that we are incapable of walking with our mates and family in love without imitating the model we have in Christ, who loved us with extreme and sacrificial love. Lord help us to learn to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Urge our hearts to be imitators of You, to model extreme and sacrificial love, by being the kind of wives that are submissive as the church is toward you, by being husbands that love our wives with extreme and sacrificial love as you do the church. Turn our hearts away from pride that causes contention and please lead our hearts to have a marriage that honors you in all things. Bring us to a place where we pursue and value shepherding and nurturing our family, where you are glorified and have priority over all things in our marriages and family. Lord give us a heart of thankfulness always for everything, even in the hard places in our marriages and family. Help us to know that You are molding us and shaping us, You are using our family and our mate to bring us closer to Your Son, thus bringing us closer to each other. Help us to foster and cultivate joy and thankfulness in our relationships by imitating You, depending on Your grace toward us, and loving as You love. In Jesus name, AMEN!