Leadership in Marriage?

“Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation.”

Psalm 25:5

Leadership is an interesting topic no matter what aspect one is looking at; but considering leadership in marriage can bring about a twinge of negativism in people.  Noting that, ponder a couple of aspects of leadership with me.  Christ is leading us in His truth and the question before us is Christ the leader of our life?  Is Christ the leader of our marriage?  Those are some pretty convicting questions to ponder but let’s unpack those questions.  Life is busy!  There are jobs, commutes, volunteer opportunities, spending time with each other, kids’ activities if kids are in the mix, houses to maintain, yards to keep up, and the list goes on.  In all of those things, there are many decisions that have to be made.  Do we ask Christ to lead us in the direction we are to go or do we just go about our day leading our own life?

Psalm 31:3 notes, “Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead me and guide me.”  Christ is our rock, He is our refuge, He is our strength, He is our comfort, He is our peace; therefore, He should be our leader.  It is easy to let life take over and run on auto-pilot.  Don’t let that be the case in your life and marriage!  Let Christ be your leader!

The other aspect of leadership to consider is the leadership role in the house.  There are a couple of more questions that need to be pondered.  Husbands are you leading the home?  Wives are you letting the husbands lead?  Ephesians 5:22-23 –“Wives submit to your husbands as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of wife, as Christ is the head of the church.”  Ladies…God designed the home to be led by the husband and we are not to take away that leadership from our husbands. Gentlemen…It goes on to say in Ephesians, “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.”

Husbands are you leading your family in a way that Christ lead and loved the church?  Does your wife know she is the most important and beautiful woman on this earth?  Do you lead and teach your wife and family the words of our Lord?  Do you pray and ask for the Lord’s guidance in all the decisions that need to be made in the house?

Leadership is an element that takes a great deal of courage and guidance!  Turn to Christ and let Him be your leader.  With Christ as your leader husbands you will see where He is asking you to lead.  Wives you will see how being supportive of your husband’s leadership will bring the two of you together as Christ intended. 

Cheryl

Bible Passage for the Week

Psalm 116:1 - "I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy!"


How comforting it is that the Lord hears us!  Know that you can share all your joy, pain, sorrow, or whatever emotion you are feeling.  He hears it all!

Share with Christ!

Cheryl

Reminder...Bible Passage for the Week

I know I have posted this verse before but in light of all the stuff that is and has been happening I think it is important to be reminded.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever! - Hebrews 13:8

That is a truth we can hold on to!

Cheryl

Parenting Dream...

I don’t know about you but when I got married and dreamt about having kids my kids were going to act appropriately!  They were not going to throw temper tantrums in the store.  They were not going to back talk their parents.  They were not going to openly disobey me.  Then I had kids and that dream went out the window!  The tantrums, the whining, the disobedience, and the back talk it is all there! 

 

With my “perfect” children dream out the window, my parenting dream went out the window too.  There are days that I am harsher than I should be; words come out of my mouth that shouldn’t.  There are days the discipline doesn’t match the crime; the kids are grounded way longer than they really need to be.  There are days that I simply don’t want to deal with whatever it is and I choose not to address it.  My dream parenting didn’t have any of those behaviors in it! 

 

Lamentations 3:22-23 notes, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  With my “perfect” parenting and “perfect” children out the window these verses are filled with such hope!  The love I receive and my children receive from the Lord never ceases!  It does not matter how imperfect we were throughout the day.  The best part, His mercies are new every morning! 

 

Each and every morning you wake up; remember it is a new beginning!  Share with your children how gracious our Lord is and thank Him for this new day and the ability to start out with a clean slate! 

A Free Gift!

Romans 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

We live in a world that is full of sin; yet, we have hope!  We have been given a free gift!  We have been given eternal life in Christ through His death and resurrection.  We need to let everyone know of this gracious gift so that everyone has the opportunity to partake! 

How do you let everyone know?  One way is to live your life with Christ at the center.  Your actions will speak volumes to the world.  They will want to know what you have.  And simply speak of His love and grace.  We have no better gift to share!

Cheryl

 

Support - Truly Needed From a Spouse

Support

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2

In your wedding vows, if you said the traditional wedding vows, you stated “for better or for worse…”  While saying those words, life was on a high.  What could worse really mean?  Well, worse could really mean many things.  Each couple is going to experience their own “worsts” and will have to figure out how to support one another through those experiences.  But…how do you support one another?

The definition of support is filled with a great deal of action that takes a strong person to fulfill those actions.  To support means to…

1.       To bear or hold up

2.       To sustain or withstand

3.       To undergo or endure; especially with patience or submission

4.       To sustain under trial and affliction

5.       To maintain by supplying with things necessary for existence

(Dictionary.com)

How do you support your spouse?  How do you bear the burdens of your spouse?  Are you patient with your spouse while support is needed?  Are you able to sustain your spouse during trials and tribulations?   No matter how you look at it supporting your spouse takes a great deal of effort on your part.  Not only do you have to bear the burdens, be patient and sustain them while they are under trials and tribulations, you have to know how they want the support. 

This takes us back to the wedding vows or back to the wedding day.  From the time you say I do you are beginning a new life.  A life that includes taking each day to gain a deeper understanding of the person you married.  In doing that, you will discover how each other needs support.  Support can be many things.  It can be listening, taking action, holding one another, crying with one another, praying with one another, sharing with one another or taking a step back to let your spouse have space.  The key is taking the time to get to know your spouse so when support is needed you know how to support.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 – “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”   We do not have to carry the burdens alone.  Christ will carry us and give us rest.  As you go through this week take time to see how your spouse needs support.  It could simply be taking out the trash or it could be something that requires a great deal more effort.  No matter what it is, when you take the time to support one another you continue to deepen your relationship. 

Cheryl 

 

Bible Passage for the Week

1 Timothy 6:6-7 - "Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world."

The season of lent is over and I will be back to posting a bible passage a week to ponder.  If you were working on a prayer journal during Lent, consider using these bible passages to continue with your prayer journal.  Contentment comes through Christ and by continuing to deepen the relationship you have with Christ you will find peace within the contentment He provides.

Cheryl