{"id":419,"date":"2015-05-01T01:09:40","date_gmt":"2015-05-01T01:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/?p=419"},"modified":"2015-05-19T17:56:02","modified_gmt":"2015-05-19T17:56:02","slug":"follow-up-for-husbands-sequel-to-for-christian-wives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/?p=419","title":{"rendered":"Follow-up For Husbands &#8211; A Sequel to &#8220;For Christian Wives&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>If your wife is further along spiritually than you, you are probably wondering how you can be a spiritual leader to her under such conditions. \u00a0First of all don&#8217;t be discouraged.\u00a0\u00a0You don&#8217;t have to have a college degree to be a spiritual leader. \u00a0What God requires, He also delivers. \u00a0Here are some observations that may be helpful.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Husbands need to lead biblically. \u00a0Christ is the shepherd. \u00a0He doesn&#8217;t herd the sheep from behind. \u00a0Herding from behind scares the sheep and they will scatter. \u00a0Jesus leads the sheep which means He is out front and the sheep are following Him. They follow Him because they know Him and He knows them.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Leading biblically is about relationships. \u00a0Does your wife know you love her? \u00a0Is she secure in your love for her or does she have reason to doubt? \u00a0Does she know that aside from your relationship with God that she and the children are the most important priorities you have? \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Are you making an effort to love her as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it? \u00a0Are you loving her as you love your own body and as you love yourself? \u00a0This love in action is servant leadership. It is the result of biblical submission which is a characteristic of being controlled by the Holy Spirit. \u00a0See Ephesians 5:18 &#8211; 6:9.<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Are you a stranger to your children? \u00a0Do you know them? \u00a0The Lord said &#8220;My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.&#8221; \u00a0Sheep will not follow a stranger. \u00a0To know one&#8217;s children is to be involved in their lives. \u00a0<\/strong><strong>It will be difficult to lead your children if you are not there. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>It will be difficult to lead them if you believe it is the wife&#8217;s responsibility to raise the children. \u00a0Parenting is a team effort. To be a team member one must be present and conscious of what is happening in the home. \u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The true shepherd gives his life for the sheep.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>A memory that I often recall with great emotion is triggered by a picture that was taken during the county fair when all four of our children were showing cattle. \u00a0It was a silhouette of myself and our children leaning on show sticks and facing each other just outside a holding corral. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>All four of our kids were facing me and listening as I talked with them. \u00a0Although I was most likely not giving spiritual instruction at the time, that picture reminds me of Deuteronomy 6:6 &amp; 7 where God instructs fathers as follows:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>&#8220;And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: \u00a0And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up.&#8221;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Spiritual leadership can be as simple as being interested in the things of God and as profound as having a devotion to Christ and His word that shows up in one&#8217;s own life first. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Spiritual leadership should involve taking the initiative. \u00a0Taking the initiative begins with priorities. \u00a0What is most important in my own life? \u00a0<\/strong><strong>It should be my personal relationship with God followed by my relationship with my wife and my children. \u00a0Is there evidence that these are my priorities? \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Do not demand that the family be spiritual. \u00a0They can no more produce spirituality by demand than anyone can increase height by taking thought. \u00a0Spiritual life and it&#8217;s evidence is from God. \u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Do not be discouraged if there is no spiritual evidence in the life a child. \u00a0 Be glad you are not being deceived by outward conformity. \u00a0A gentle reminder to a rebellious child should be &#8220;the way of the transgressor is hard&#8221;.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Parents should pray for their children as Job did for his.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Parents should live out their own relationship with God in front of their children. \u00a0It should not be acting, it should be genuine.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>A wise man once observed that although\u00a0<\/strong><strong>God has a multitude of children, \u00a0there are some who may not be presently living for Him. \u00a0Does that make God a bad parent? \u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If your wife is further along spiritually than you, you are probably wondering how you can be a spiritual leader to her under such conditions. \u00a0First of all don&#8217;t be discouraged.\u00a0\u00a0You don&#8217;t have to have a college degree to be a spiritual leader. \u00a0What God requires, He also delivers. \u00a0Here are some observations that may &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/?p=419\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Follow-up For Husbands &#8211; A Sequel to &#8220;For Christian Wives&#8221;<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=419"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":516,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419\/revisions\/516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadinghorsestowater.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}