Through The Bible in a Year - September 23, 2026

"However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband." - Ephesians 5:33

Paul closes this whole passage — a sweeping vision of self-giving love modeled on Christ’s sacrifice — with one final, personal word to each spouse. To husbands: love. To wives: respect. The word translated "respect" here is the same word used in verse 21 for "reverence for Christ." It is a high and costly word. And Paul applies it to the way a wife should regard a flawed, imperfect man.

Of course, no husband deserves to be reverenced the way that we are supposed to reverence our Savior. That is precisely the point. The respect Paul calls for is not contingent on deserving. No mere man deserves reverence. But a wife who reverences her husband is not honoring the man in his imperfection — she is honoring God's purposes for that man, the calling God has placed on his life, the accounting for spiritual leadership he will one day give to God in heaven. A wife gives her husband respect and support for the role God gives him in the home, not because he deserves it but because he needs it. To fulfill his divine calling, every husband needs the support of the wife God has designed to be the help that he requires.

There is a profound truth in this aspect of the apostle’s instruction that is easily missed. It is this: when a man knows he is genuinely respected by the one who knows him best, he is most likely to become the man that God calls him to be. Wives are meant to understand that you get what you give. Respect begets the man worth respecting.

RESPOND: Are the words you speak about your spouse — to others, or to him/her directly — words that build up or tear down? Consider one specific, genuine way you can express respect or love toward your spouse today so that he or she can fulfill the responsibilities God gives them for another’s blessing?

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, you have called us to love and respect one another not because we deserve it, but because you first loved us. Give me a heart that sees my spouse through your eyes — as someone you treasure, someone Christ died for. Let my words and my actions reflect that truth, today and every day. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.