After creating man, the first institution God established was marriage.  The marriage institution came into being when God declared that “a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24, Amplified Bible).
Wedding rings on wooded background

In a Christian marriage, both the husband and wife must become one flesh before the marriage can survive the ups and downs of life’s challenges and become strong Christian marriages. The Bible gives explicit instructions regarding the duties of husbands and wives to produce strong Christian marriages.  If we follow God’s instructions, our marriages will be strong.  If we disobey His instructions, our marriages will fail.

Someone said accurately that the closest thing to heaven on earth is a strong and happy marriage.  Conversely, the closest thing to hell on earth is a bad marriage.  Apparently, God wants us to have happy marriages so we can have a little heaven on earth.

The Duties of Christian Husbands

It takes a tremendous effort from each spouse to have a strong and stable marriage.  Let’s look first at the duties of Christian husbands that’ll produce strong Christian marriages.

Christian Husbands Should Be Strong Christ Followers

First, Christian husbands must be strong Christians. It’s impossible for a Christian marriage to be strong if the husband isn’t strong in Christ.  Marriages can be very challenging and satan attacks marriages.  If a Christian husband is weak in Christ then he cannot withstand satanic attacks nor lead the marriage to victory.  Hence, Christian husbands should be able to handle the Word of God, pray consistently, resist temptations, live a disciplined life and so forth.

Christian Husbands Are The Head, Not Dictators, of Their families

The second duty of Christian husbands to produce strong Christian marriages is to be the head of their families.  Headship is not a dictatorship.  It is not barking out orders and treating the wife as a servant, although Christian spouses should serve each other.  Rather, headship is responsibility.  It means the buck stops with Christian husbands.  It means God holds Christian husbands accountable for the marriage and looks to them when things are not going well in their marriages.

Christian Husbands Must Love Their Wives As Christ Loves His Church

The third duty of Christian husbands is to love their wives as Paul describes in Ephesians 5:25-28.  It reads:

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:”

Paul said Christian husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved His church and gave Himself for it. Christian husbands should, therefore, sacrifice their lives and work hard to protect and provide for their wives. They should nurture and love them tenderly.  In short, they should utilize every effort to create an awesome life for their wives as Christ did for His wife, the Church.

Paul is saying that Christ is the standard for Christian husbands.  Some husbands may think it is daunting and impossible to meet Paul’s standard for marriage.  What these husbands fail to realize is they benefit from loving their wives as Christ loves the church because that level of love produces glorious wives for themselves.  For this reason, Paul said, He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

Christian Husbands Must Honor and Esteem Their Wives

Fourth, Christian husbands are to honor their wives as the weaker or more fragile vessels.  Don’t be mistaken, Paul is not saying women are weaker mentally, psychologically, emotionally, intellectually or otherwise; only physically.  In other words, Christian husbands may have more muscles than their wives but not more intelligence.  Paul is saying that Christian husbands should be gentle and kind with their wives by treating them as fine china. Another way of saying it is to treat them like queens with the utmost respect, esteem, reverence, dignity, deference, submission and as equals.  And Paul reinforces this duty with a dire warning:  God will not hear the prayers of husbands who dishonor their wives.