Page 86 - THE MAN IN LOVE

The Man In Love
their wives in dire situations so that they can be left off the hook. They must actually be willing and ready to risk their lives and physically die in the place of their wives, so that the later can live. This is the nature of the love that Christ showed and it is really not an impossible gesture for men to do.
Esther did precisely this in Esther 4 when she committed to go in to see the king without an invitation, knowing that she could die if the king did not acknowledge her. The tradition of the time was that death would be visited upon anyone who shows up before the king without an invitation and is not acknowledged to approach unto him by the stretching forth of his golden scepter. Esther risked her life before the king to rescue the Jews whose lives had been brought under threat of destruction following the kings’ decree orchestrated by Haman. She said in Esther 4:16 that “if I perish I perish.”
When we get to the point that we are able to completely relegate our desires and interests to oblivion just so we can fulfill the interest of our wives and comply with God’s commandment to love them, then our love can be likened to Christ’s love toward the church.
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