Within the marriage relationship, both the husband and wife are to submit to one another out of reverence to Christ Jesus.  The husband, however, has been given the responsibility, by God, to be the head of the home.  He is not to be abusive toward his wife, but, rather, his role as head of the family should be modeled after Christ Jesus' role as head of the Christian Church (Christ Jesus loves the Church and gave His life for it.)  In the same way, husbands should love and care for their families.  They should love their wives, and indeed their whole family, just as they love themselves.

Look what the Bible says:

"Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.  Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior.  Now as the Church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself.  After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the Church--for we are members of His body. 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.'  This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the Church.  However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."¹

Bible References:

¹ (Ephesians 5:21-33   NIV)