Why are husbands commanded to love their wives while wives are not commanded to love their husbands?
Scripture commands husbands to love their wives because God created Adam with the ability to love his helpmate, while He created Eve with the ability to respond. The husband's love mirrors Christ's sacrificial love for the church, and the wife's role is responsive, as the church responds to Christ.
Les explains that Ephesians 5 first says wives are to be subject to their own husbands as the church is subject to Christ. Then husbands are told to love their wives with the same attitude Christ has toward the church—total love, even to the point of dying for her. He notes Scripture never commands wives to love their husbands; Peter tells mothers to teach daughters how to love a husband, but it is not commanded. The reason goes back to creation: God created Adam with the ability to love his helpmate, and Eve with the ability to respond. Les compares this to salvation: when God saves us and places us into the body, if salvation is genuine, we have an innate ability to love Him in return. A husband with this attitude will not have a divorce problem, because he treats his wife as Christ treats the church.