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• Eph 5:28-33a . . Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies.
He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own
body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church-- for we
are members of his body.
. . . "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to
his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery--
but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also
must love his wife as he loves himself,
That, of course, is a practical application of the so-called golden rule; which
first shows up in the Bible at Lev 19:18, applied at Lev 19:34, and reiterated
at Matt 7:12 and Luke 6:31.
The very opposite of the golden rule would be for a husband to do unto his
wife the very things that he does do not enjoy being done to himself; either
by word or by deed.
I'm not a qualified marriage counselor, but in my unprofessional opinion,
were couples to practice the golden rule in their association with each other,
it would go a long ways towards preventing their relationship from becoming
a cold war instead of a home.
There are toxic wives out there who do not deserve their husband's
affections; and in fact have done all in their power to destroy them.
Nevertheless, it is his Christian duty to continue looking after her, and to
treat her well as if his very life depended upon it in spite of the fact that she
may be someone he deeply regrets courting.
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