Mark Sanford. Governor. Adulterer. So what's to learn?

Husbands...

...love your wives...

...as Christ loved the church...

...and (yes "and"!) ...

...gave himself up...

...for her...

Ephesians 5:25

Dwell upon the weight of each phrase. Let Paul's implications roll through your mind. After verse 25, it gets even better. Really, it does. But, oh, how well we would do to get this far.

A biblical command to "love your wife." It's not a feeling. It's not something I can fall into our out of. That's not "love."

Love demands volition, a choice, or as Don Francisco sang, "an act of the will." I choose to invest my life into my bride for her good, not for her likes, but for her good (biblical good)...regardless of what I get in return. At least that's what God calls us to.

If I'm doing it as a 50-50 proposition, then it's not much different than a proposition. I invest a little, I get a little. When I stop getting, I go somewhere else. They sell that in Vegas and in Times Square.

If I'm seeking the affections of another or If I succumb to the lurings of another, then I have stopped seeking the good of the one to whom I have made a vow and sworn an oath. I have begun seeking my own satisfaction.

Love is a choice, and marriage is a promise to exercise that choice until God removes the breath from one set of lungs. Rich or poor, sickly or healthy, thick or thin, Vikings or Packers. It's a daily choice, a moment by moment choice.

Any lapse can unseat a governor or far worse, ruin a husband and father by bringing mountains of agony to his family. All for a morsel of Turkish Delight.

Husbands, love your wives!