“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” Ephesians 5:25 (NIV). Love is a very important element in a real Christian marriage. Love is what enables couples to accept and adjust to one another in spite of their weaknesses and differences. Love binds together a husband and his wife so that they truly become one. Without divine love, it is impossible for a couple to become one. God knows this, so he advises every husband to love his wife as much as Christ loved the church. Wives too ought to love their husbands because the word of God instructs the older women in the church to “train the younger women to love their husbands and children” (Titus 2:4, NIV). Thus, God expects love to be a give-and- take affair between marriage partners. As humans, we will offend one another, but love makes forgiveness possible. It is love that enables married people to be kind and patient with one another. It is also love that makes it possible for spouses not only to overcome selfi shness, but also to do good things for one another. But where true love is absent, there is often hatred, unforgiveness, cruelty and unresolvable confl icts between couples, resulting in nasty fights and constant clashes and even divorce. It should not be so in Christian marriages. We need to love our spouses in practical ways. Our marriages should be examples for unbelievers to admire and imitate. Do you show real love to your spouse? Or is there hatred, selfi shness and cruelty in your marriage? Meditation and Prayer: I choose to love my spouse. Lord, produce true love in my heart for my spouse. Further Reading: John 13:34-35; Colossians 3:18-19; 1 John 3:11-18. Key Lesson: Love should be mutual between husbands and wives.