Ephesians 5:25–33 makes Christ's self-giving love the pattern for marriage. The passage calls husbands to costly sacrifice and wives to respect, and it ties the one-flesh union to the mystery of Christ and the assembly.

Christian marriage is meant to display Christ's self-giving love, not to decorate an ordinary home with religious language. Paul measures both spouses against Christ himself, and a husband's headship is defined by sacrifice, never by coercion.

Ephesians 5:22–33 does not hand husbands and wives a list of demands but a picture of Christ, who gave himself up for his people. The husband's headship is measured by sacrifice and care, and the whole passage rests on the mutual submission commanded in verse 21.