Nourish and Cherish Your Wife

28So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
29For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:...Ephesians 5: 28-29
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Nourish - to rear, feed. To nurture, rear, to bring up to maturity such as children. ... to train or educate. To shepherd or take general care of, to feed, to satisfy.

Cherish - Syn.: to care for, to give heed to, pay attention to, to minister, to warm.

From THE COMPLETE WORDSTUDY DICTIONARY New Testament Spiros Zodhiates
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Men ought to love their wives as their own bodies. They ought to nourish and cherish them as they would their own selves.

As I ponder these things I wonder if this nourishing and cherishing could and should be taken to the spiritual level as well. You see I have an appetite for the Word of God. That came about as a result of regeneration. There is this desire to live according to God's plan for my life. I wish to know Him better, to love Him more. O sure I have my bad days, days filled with rebellion against Him, days of falling into temptation; but the overall direction of my life is heading in the general direction of knowing Him better and learning more of His plans for my life.

As I read the Bible it becomes more and more clear that God's plan for every Christian is to be conformed to the image of His Son. See Rom. 8:29; 2Cor. 3:18; Gal. 4:19. It is also clear that each Christian is to play an active role in the conforming process. We are to study and prayerfully meditate on His Word. As we do so the Holy Spirit goes about to form Christ within us, 2 Cor. 3:18. As we behold Christ in the Word the Holy Spirit molds and shapes us into the image of the Son. The trials come, and as we keep our eyes on Christ in the Word, filled with worship and thanksgiving and offering up the sacrifice of praise so the conforming process takes place in our lives.

Now, husbands, those who have that desire to grow in the knowledge of your Lord and Savior, do you share your study and reading experiences with your wife? The gems you come across in His word, do you share them with your wife? Are you reading the scriptures with her, sharing your insights with her so as to see her become more conformed to the image of the Son?

Hmmmm.