...and gave himself up for her.

"²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself." Eph 5:25-28

How do I give myself up for our wives? Having thought about this some, I initially considered that we should give up our desires of what to purchase or activity to pursue so that she could. Further contemplation found several flaws with this approach, instead I decided to use the guidelines from Ephesians to shape the actions of "giving myself up for her".

(1) is what I am doing making her more holy?

(2) does what I am doing involve God's word? e.g. studying the bible together, studying it myself (see post)

(3) is she more presentable than before?

My idea of what this "giving up" should look like is still evolving. Over the next few months, as I try this, I will post what seems to work based on the above criteria. I will measure what works based on prayer and feedback from Patty.