FAMILY GOD\’S WAY
Lesson 3
ROLE OF A FATHER
It is one thing to be a husband. It is another thing to be a father
Not every husband wants to be a father.
In the marriage vows we say for better or worst. Half the time it is
for better until I can find something better. We don\’t want to deal with
the worst for long.
When you are dealing with a mate and children the worst will always
show up.
5 quick comments
1.A Good Father must love the Lord with all his mind, heart and soul.
2. A Good Father loves and respects his wife.
3. A Good Father must make time for His family.
4. A Good Father must communicate with his family.
5. A Good Father must be careful to discipline his children with love.
A FATHER MUST HAVE UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
One of the most important characteristics of a father is unconditional love.
We must learn the difference between lust and love.
I am of the opinion that there maybe lust at first sight, but not love at
first sight.
Lust is self driven. Love is driven by the best interest of another person.
Proverbs 6:25 states, \” Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her
captivate you with her eyes.\”
I would say that attractions begins with lust, before it grows to love.
A Father must have eyes only for his wife.
A Father must love his wife like Christ loves the Church
Psalms 17:7-8
7 Show the wonder of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings
Jesus defined love this way
John 14:15
15 \”If you love me, you will obey what I command. \”
A FATHER MUST TAKE AN ACTIVE PART IN CHILD TRAINING
Proverbs 22:6
6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Psalms 78:5-7
He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children,
6 so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.
7 Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.
Ephesians 6:4
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and
instruction of the Lord.
Colossians 3:21
Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
Father\’s must be careful not to criticize his children, but use every incident to
speak with favor, seasoned with the truth.
Some children may take criticism as rejection.
Be careful not to belittle your children
Never call them names other than their own.
A FATHER MUST DISCIPLINE HIS CHILDREN
Proverbs 13:24
He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.
Proverbs 19:18
Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death.
Never discipline your children while you are upset or angry.
Wait until you calm down. But let the child know that discipline will take place
Psalms 32:8
\”I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch
over you. \”
John 13:34-35
\”A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
A FATHER MUST SHOW NO FAVORITISM
Do not favor one child over another as Jacob did Joseph.
Genesis 37:3
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him.
Genesis 37:5
Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more.
NI
THE ROLE OF A WIFE
A wife must love and respect her husband
Ephesians 5:24
Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
This is a two way street, Ephesians 5:28 states
\”In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.\”
The primary job of the wife is to be a helper to her husband,
Genesis 2:18 states,
\”The Lord God said, \”It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.\”
This does not mean that wife is less than the husband. They are equal partners in the
marriage. The man and his wife must be on the same page. God made us dependant
on each other.
God made the woman so she would have a desire for a man.
Genesis 3:16
\”To the woman he said, \”I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.\”
The husband and his wife are to be companions for life.
Malachi 2:14-15 states
14 You ask, \”Why?\” It is because the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
15 Has not [the Lord] made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. \”
WIFE SHOULD SUBMIT TO HER HUSBAND
The wife should take instruction from the husband acting as the head. The wife by
her godly attitude will guide her husband. 1 Corinthians 7:14 states;
\” For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.\”
SEX IN THE MARRIAGE
God ordained sex. God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply.
Genesis 1:28
Early in the marriage sex is usually not a problem.
You have to work at making sure you never get to the
point where you make excuses not to have sex with your
spouse.
Sex is for grownup?. Sex is for responsible grownups.
We should not be making birth control products available to our sons and daughters.
Sex leads to babies.
We must have open and discussions about relationships with our children.
We have to first be good role models for them to follow.
A WIFE SOULD SATISFY HER HUSBAND SEXUALLY
1 Corinthians 7:3-5
3 Let the husband render to his wife the affection owed her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.
4 The wife doesn\’t have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise also the husband doesn\’t have authority over his own body, but the wife.
5 Don\’t deprive one another, unless it is by consent for a season, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and may be together again, that Satan doesn\’t tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
Ladies always make yourself desirable to your husbands
You made yourself desirable when you were looking for a husband. Don\’t
stop because you are married.
Song of Solomon 4:10-12 states;
\”How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!
11 Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue. The fragrance of your garments is like that of Lebanon.
12 You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain. \”
Don\’t make the mistake of thinking that there is not a woman out there waiting
to take your husband just as he is.
If you want satisfy your husband, there is a woman out there dressed to seduce
with sweet smelling perfume and enticing conversation.
Don\’t give the devil a chance to pull your husband away from you.
When it come to other women, men sometimes have weak minds.
I would advise you to make sure if your husband look at another woman
he want see anyone as hot and desirable as you are
THE ROLE OF THE CHILDREN
Ephesians 6:1-2
6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2 \”Honor your father and mother\”-which is the first commandment with a promise—
We have teach our children to be obedient. Proverbs 22:15 states;
Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him. \”
It is the job of the parents to bring their children to Christ.
Luke 18:16 states;
Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
The word suffer is taken from a Greek word \” aphiemi\” which mean \”to send\”
Don\’t think that because your children seem mature, that they want do something foolish.
As parent we must keep our children under our control. We must continue to
study the Bible with our kids.
Rev. M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor of Greater Macedonia Baptist Church
5510 West Sam Houston Park Way North
Houston, Texas 77041
Next week we will talk about
FAMILY FINANCES
