Ephesians 5:28

Even so ought husbands also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He that loves his own wife loveth himself: for no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as Christ also the church.

The analogy which had been in Paul's mind as far back as Ephesians 5:23, above, is about to be stated emphatically here and in the following four verses. First, there is the practical consideration that: just as Christ provides for every need of the church, nourishing and blessing her in all times and places by all means, so also the husband is obligated to make the care of his wife the principal concern and most urgent business of his whole life. In loving her, he is, after all, only loving himself.