I’ll never forget those eyes, dancing above the rim of her glass the moment I walked into the room, the first dance of many . . . wild and wonderful.
There are . . . things that are too
Wonderful for me . . .
The way of a man with a maid (Proverbs 30:18,19)
Four days later – an eternity, she said – we kissed and purposed to spend our lives as one . . . Paradise.
As I lay across the bed from my beautiful, lovely Bride during our Hawaiian honeymoon (a typically generous gift from my brother and his wife) those dancing eyes held my gaze, their radiance intensifying a vague sense of loss.
Time. Suddenly all those years without her seemed lost.
Still drinking in the moment’s wonder, my fingers fell lightly, high upon her cheek, tracing to her lips the soft outline of her face.
“Why didn’t I meet you ten years ago? Where were you? Look how much time we’ve missed being together, how much time we’ve lost.”
But life is like that, isn’t it? One day we wake up in an oasis wondering why we wandered around in the desert for so long.
I purposed right then and there, 21 years ago, laying on the bed in our room on the 5th floor of the Lahaina Shores Hotel, I would cherish this woman, my bride, this breath-taking gift from God, every day of my life.
How great it would be to report that I have loved Lisa perfectly. I cannot. I’ve caused her tears, been unloving, and insensitive at times. But, I can report to you that Lisa has been and is a cherished woman. I’ll be transparent . . . she makes it easy for me.
I reach out from the inside to let her know how much she matters to me. She knows this – that it’s serious business with me. Lisa is my priority because Jesus Christ made her my priority. He wants me to love her as He loves His Bride.
Jesus is the example for every Christian man to know how to truly cherish his wife.
Wait a minute, Jesus isn’t married!
But, He is (or soon will be). His Bride is the Church. And Christian men are instructed to love their wife as Jesus loves His – Ephesians 5:25
Is your wife a cherished woman? If so, no one would ever think to ask because a woman truly cherished by her husband is irrepressibly radiant, like the sun on a clear day.
For the rest of you, I encourage you find a quiet moment and to ask your wife, “Do you feel cherished by me?” and “How can I cherish you in a way that you truly feel it?”
You see, being the husband of a cherished woman just isn’t optional for a Christian man. This is the call of God on your life – to preach the gospel with the power of your love for your wife – an expression to the world of how Jesus Christ loves His Bride, the Church. If my wife isn’t cherished, I’m walking in sin and I must change.
The Scriptures say that when you love your wife, you are actually loving yourself . . . because a truly cherished woman takes great pleasure in returning that love with interest. In cherishing her, God smiles His approval, your wife reflects her joy, and you receive the benefit of both – a highly fulfilling marriage.
~Matthew
FAITHFUL MAN® 