When they perceive their husband s love through his deeds and words, it makes all a wife s toil and bother on behalf of her family worthwhile. Since we can so easily show this sort of appreciation to our wives and give them this feeling of contentment, it is really cruel on a man s part not to do so. We know that one of the ways to emulate Hashem is to love doing chesed. This should be our goal and we even mention it at the end of the Amidah when we ask for love of chesed. By showing love and appreciation, a husband has such a simple way of performing chesed on a daily basis.
Similar opportunities exist for a wife.
She has countless occasions to show her love for her husband. She can receive him with a smile when he comes home. She can get dressed nicely just to greet him. She can buy him a gift. Any expression of love is doing chesed and strengthens the bond between a married couple.