Despite the fact that Traveon slept most of the way through church with his head in my lap, I instigated the routine post-church question when we reached the car..."What is something you learned today?" To my surprise, he responded without delay...
"The world needs men."
Yeah, we really do. Godly men.
Our pastor gave a pretty strong call to action for "men to be men" - to lead their lives, wives and families with courage, boldness and conviction. To serve humbly, out of love and have compassion for the vulnerable. To be the kind of man worth following. I think every woman...at least in her spirit...said amen.
I've had a journey with a particular scripture over the past few years.
Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do 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. Ephesians 5:22-24
I imagine doing the first read-over will stir a variety of emotions...it did for me too...so let me tell you where my journey began...
I was probably in my early 20's...a few years before Jesus came on the scene (of my heart)...when I first caught this scripture being read during weddings...and I had but one thought..."I will absolutely not have that scripture read during my wedding." I very much marched to the beat of the I can do anything you can do better drum and I was certainly not going to sign up for a subpar position on Day 1 of my marriage.
But Jesus...
I have a good friend and sister in Christ who has battled this scripture with me several times over the course of our friendship. She's had some hang-up's with submission and experienced an abuse of the definition in the past. Naturally, this is going to raise a red flag. And then she looks at me, knowing that I'm very driven and strong-willed, and therefore can't understand why I'm at total peace with it. Not only can I imagine this scripture being read during my wedding someday...but I hope and I pray that my marriage would becoming a living example.
How's that for a 180?
But I'll take it a step further, I actually think a lot of women would be willing...and do I daresay, even desire, to submit to Godly husbands. And I'm not referring to the guy who merely drags himself to church on Sundays...but rather...the kind of man who refuses to sit on the sidelines...who leads his family with courage and honor...who puts down the childish ways of the world and puts on the ways of God.
Let's keep reading a bit further onto verse 25..."Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her..." Did you catch that? Christ died for the church. He loved her. That. Much. And He calls husbands to love their wives with the same intensity. I'd imagine submission becomes just a tad bit easier when you've been swept clean off your feet.
When the pastor finished speaking, he invited the men who were making new or renewed commitments to the Lord or to their families...to come to the alter. And within moments...kneeling...shoulder-to-shoulder...it was lined with men of God.
The world needs these men.
As I was holding back tears, taking in the sight of surrender at the alter, I leaned down and whispered in Traveon's ear..."You are going to break the cycle in your family Traveon, some day you will grow into a courageous man of God...you will be a faithful husband and a devoted father." He looked up with a continuous nod...wanting the truth of those words to indeed prove true.
You see, he may be growing up fatherless...but he is not without a Father.
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:4-5
"The world needs men."
Yeah, we really do. Godly men.
Our pastor gave a pretty strong call to action for "men to be men" - to lead their lives, wives and families with courage, boldness and conviction. To serve humbly, out of love and have compassion for the vulnerable. To be the kind of man worth following. I think every woman...at least in her spirit...said amen.
I've had a journey with a particular scripture over the past few years.
Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do 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. Ephesians 5:22-24
I imagine doing the first read-over will stir a variety of emotions...it did for me too...so let me tell you where my journey began...
I was probably in my early 20's...a few years before Jesus came on the scene (of my heart)...when I first caught this scripture being read during weddings...and I had but one thought..."I will absolutely not have that scripture read during my wedding." I very much marched to the beat of the I can do anything you can do better drum and I was certainly not going to sign up for a subpar position on Day 1 of my marriage.
But Jesus...
I have a good friend and sister in Christ who has battled this scripture with me several times over the course of our friendship. She's had some hang-up's with submission and experienced an abuse of the definition in the past. Naturally, this is going to raise a red flag. And then she looks at me, knowing that I'm very driven and strong-willed, and therefore can't understand why I'm at total peace with it. Not only can I imagine this scripture being read during my wedding someday...but I hope and I pray that my marriage would becoming a living example.
How's that for a 180?
But I'll take it a step further, I actually think a lot of women would be willing...and do I daresay, even desire, to submit to Godly husbands. And I'm not referring to the guy who merely drags himself to church on Sundays...but rather...the kind of man who refuses to sit on the sidelines...who leads his family with courage and honor...who puts down the childish ways of the world and puts on the ways of God.
Let's keep reading a bit further onto verse 25..."Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her..." Did you catch that? Christ died for the church. He loved her. That. Much. And He calls husbands to love their wives with the same intensity. I'd imagine submission becomes just a tad bit easier when you've been swept clean off your feet.
When the pastor finished speaking, he invited the men who were making new or renewed commitments to the Lord or to their families...to come to the alter. And within moments...kneeling...shoulder-to-shoulder...it was lined with men of God.
The world needs these men.
As I was holding back tears, taking in the sight of surrender at the alter, I leaned down and whispered in Traveon's ear..."You are going to break the cycle in your family Traveon, some day you will grow into a courageous man of God...you will be a faithful husband and a devoted father." He looked up with a continuous nod...wanting the truth of those words to indeed prove true.
You see, he may be growing up fatherless...but he is not without a Father.
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:4-5
Happy Father's Day!
1 comment:
amen!
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