“My life for your life,” He says, as the waters flood deeper. “My heart for your heart,” He exclaims, as the wind swirls wilder. He shoulders her. He shelters her. He covers her from the impending typhoon, for His role as King and Bridegroom resolves to protect her every second

Rain beats down. Lightning strikes. Thunder rolls. He takes a deep breath as hail rattles through the clouds, thick and gray, with spheres as big as ping-pong balls.

Bloods drips from his forehead. He wipes away the red but the dripping won’t cease. Drip. Drip. Drip. He remains determined on His mission of the moment. His arms swaddle His Bride like a fortress. He can hear her heartbeat next to his. Drip. Drip. Drip. His hands shield her body from the elements. Drip. Drip. Drip. More blood flows. His mind goes in and out of consciousness. He’s losing focus by the second.

“Hold on to me, my love,” he commands. “I won’t let you die.”

Love instinctively protects its lover from death. Love intuitively knows what to do because the heart of love’s purity compels its action.

“For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up His life for her.” Ephesians 5:25

Pure love is a non-negotiable. Pure love saves lives. Love dies for its lover. Jesus humbled Himself on a cross to die for His Bride.

Ladies, if you want to find out if a man loves you, watch how he stands up for you. Defends you. Protects you. Dies for you.

The woman’s role is not to die for the husband. It is the husband’s job to die for the wife.

Ladies, do not settle for a relationship less than God’s biblical decree.

Christian doctrine says husbands are to die for their wives in order to “make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word” in Ephesians 5:26.

The Bridegroom’s death makes the Bride holy.

“He [Jesus] did this to present her to Himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.^“ Ephesians 5:28

Jesus desires a faultless bride, so He dies for her personally in order to make her holy and pure as He wishes. If you want a pure bride, die for her.

“In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. And we are members of his body.” Ephesians 5:28-30

The way a husband treats his wife shows how he treats himself. Disrespect your wife and you disrespect yourself. Honor your wife and you honor yourself. Shame your wife and you shame yourself. Empower your wife and you empower yourself. You are one entity as Genesis 2:24 indicates.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cling to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24

One flesh in unity only holds together with pure love from God sustaining the relationship.

“As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” Ephesians 5:31-33

We need a relationship with Jesus as the primary foundation.

God’s love is the only source of pure love. God’s love is the only source of pure kindness. God’s love is the only source of pure understanding. Respect and dignity flow from the one whose blood poured out for our iniquities. He treasures our existence. He honors our existence. So we exalt Him as King forever.