What would you give to be perfect? I remember the first time I realized the same sins I struggled with before I was married were still present after I married Rachel. I had hoped marriage would be a fresh start – and it was in many ways – but it did not make me perfect. In fact, I saw all my sin tendencies even more clearly than when I was single. In Ephesians 5, Paul shows us the goal of our perfection and the price that Jesus paid for that goal.


Our Savior calls us – His Bride – to be pure. But He gives His own self up in order to achieve that purity. Jesus is sacrificed for us on the cross, and it is this same sacrifice that is making us perfect. It is interesting that Paul goes on to bring husbands into this equation. Amazingly, I am called to be an instrument for my wife’s future perfection and glory. As I give myself up in love for my wife, I remind her of the way Christ gave Himself up for her. All of our hope rests on that little phrase, “As Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”