June 21, 2026
Jesus Christ has entrusted husbands with a sacred, anointed responsibility: to lead with a “sacrificial love” that paints a picture of Christ and the Church on earth. But Husbands, can we say that this has been our daily delightsome quest? In Marriage and family, are we truly leading with sacrificial love towards our wives and children, setting an example for our sons and other men to follow after?
Remember this: The best thing a father can do for his children is to love his wife as God Purposes. It sets the spiritual tone for the entire household.
Happy Father’s Day, especially to born-again Christian Fathers who are keeping the faith and loving and cherishing their wives and children as God Purposed from the beginning! I salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
At I Corinthians 13:11-13, the Apostle Paul wrote:
11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity (Love).
The phrasing of Paul in Verse 11, “when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child,” illustrates spiritual maturity. The full Verse contrasts childhood with adulthood, highlighting a shift from immature thinking and behavior; to mature disciplined thought, love, and obedience according to God’s Word. Verse 11 is nestled within the famous “Love Chapter” 1 Corinthians 13. Paul compares spiritual growth to growing up, where one sets aside childish ways, such as selfish speech and limited understanding, as they mature in faith. It signifies a transition from a temporary, limited perspective to a mature, lasting, and informed “Godly Viewpoint” on all things in life. It is often interpreted as a “Call” for Christians to move beyond selfish, immature actions to a more selfless, loving, and mature life-style in Christ.
Paul’s exhortation in Verse 11, bridges well with his writing at I Corinthians 16:13, where he wrote: “Watch, ye, stand fast in the faith, quit (act) you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity (love).” Paul was urging that men believers show courage, maturity, and steadfastness in faith, acting with conviction and love rather than childish instability; a Call to “spiritual bravery.” Praise God, True maturity and spiritual bravery starts at home with the husband serving in sacrificial love for his wife and children, and spreads abroad to Community.
Sadly, many adult males within the Body of Christ, and needless to say adult males of the world, have been calling themselves “Men,” “Husbands,” and “Fathers,” without adorning themselves in “spiritual maturity.” At best we can call them, the “Man-Child.” And, the fall-out has been great within American families and Society. Indeed, True maturity and spiritual bravery is not resisting blame, but stepping forward with real introspection before God to examine husband and father shortcomings and accepting responsibility and accountability for the “broken American family,” thereby ensuring our nation’s families have a future. Our shortcomings as husbands and fathers, as serious and hurtful as they may be, afford an opportunity for “Repentance” before God, receiving mercy and grace, and learning to walk according to His Ways. Never should we willfully put sin on a pedestal and drape it, rather we must reveal it so God can heal it. (Prov. 28:13) As God in Christ Jesus is the Great Physician who heals broken souls and relationships.
Data on the status of marriage/divorce/cohabitation point to the childishness of those who call themselves men in America. Approximately 40-percent to 50-percent of first marriages in the U.S. are projected to end in divorce or separation. The average marriage in America ends in divorce within 8-years. According to Pew Research, the share of Americans who have divorced varies by race. Black Americans are the most likely to have gotten divorced (41-percent), whites (35-percent), Hispanics (27-percent), and Asian Americans are the least likely (16-percent). Divorce frequently leaves children in single-mother led households, facing financial hardship and emotional strain.
Beyond legal dissolution, research suggests about 20-perent of couples experience significant marital distress, and roughly 21-percent of marriages are considered to be in a "crisis" state, including those with no hope for the marriage. Also, an untold number of marriages are suffering in “secret silence;” suffering from a quiet, internal breakdown, living in an invisible divorce as they share a home, but not a life. The silence is a loud cry for help that no one can hear, with tepid smiles outside the home but behind closed doors, hides a million tears. They are drowning in an ocean of unspoken words; wishing and saying beneath their breaths, “I’m sorry I ever met you.”
Also, the National Institute of Health reports in the U.S., “1 in 4 women experience physical violence” by an intimate ill-tempered partner. Right here in our nation’s capital, each year about 32,000 (911) domestic violence-related calls are logged by local police. “Over 70-percent of domestic abuse victims are female, and over 90-percent of perpetrators are male.” In the first half of 2025, there were 237 murder-suicide events in the U.S, with 65-percent involving an intimate partner, projecting to over 1,000 deaths annually.
Then we have males foolishly engaged in what are called “slider relationships” with women;” choosing and deciding to cohabitate (shack). "Sliding" in relationships refers to a phenomenon where couples transition through major milestones—such as moving in together and sexing-it-up, which in some cases moves to engagement and marriage—without having explicit conversations or making intentional decisions. Instead of "deciding" to take the next step, they "slide" into it due to convenience, inertia, or increased entanglement due to an unintended pregnancy or financial bonds, often leading to lower relationship satisfaction.
Pew Research found that “approximately 7 to 13-percent of all U.S. adults are currently cohabitating, up from roughly 3-percent in 1995.” Pew also reports “among adults aged 18 to 44, 59-percent have lived with an unmarried partner at some point in their lives. According to Pew, “cohabitation is now a common precursor to marriage, with roughly 70-percent of couples living together before marrying.” Complicit in this childish frivolity is much of the Christian Community, as Pew’s survey shows “69-percent of Christian Americans say cohabitation is acceptable, even if a couple doesn’t plan to get married.” My, my, my and “51-percent of American Christians believe sex between unmarried adults in a committed relationship is sometimes or always acceptable, with 80-percent of unmarried Christians reportedly having engaged in premarital sex whether cohabiting or living apart from partners.”
However Saints, we cannot ignore God’s Call to “Holiness. How can we, as a Covenant-People, knowingly participate in and/or endorse sexual immorality (fornication) and take part in cohabitation, when God's Word expressly Calls us to most hurriedly shun it? (I Cor. 6:18) We must choose to walk in obedience, not in convenience. (Romans12:1-2) For consider the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at Jacob’s Well: Upon meeting the Messiah, she left her old-life (5-ex-husbands, and one man she was living with at the time), exchanging her past shame for a new purpose, moving and reaching forward from sinful living to a new, redeemed life. (John 4:17-18, 28-29) Umm, she left childish behavior to take hold of spiritual maturity.
Furthermore, did not Jesus Christ, in a grace-filled action, tell the woman caught in adultery facing stoning by the Jews, that He did not condemn her but to “go and sin no more?” (John 8:1-11) This Command by Jesus, while not a demand for immediate perfection, was a “Call” to leave her past behind and rise to spiritual maturity and transformation.
Lastly, I feel profound sorrow that so many males (youth and adults) deceived by Satan, have embraced a spiritual shift away from God’s created order (male and female shall become one flesh in holy matrimony), towards the practice of homosexuality and same sex marriage, which is an existential threat to Humanity. Males yielding to such risky impulsivity has led to mental health struggles and the contraction of chronic health conditions such as HIV, STI’s, monkey-pox virus, and certain cancers. But now, these iniquitous practices have become normalized in our Society.
Based on recent U.S. Census data, there are “approximately 386,000 married male same-sex couple households and roughly 551,000 unmarried same-sex couple households (which includes both male and female pairs, though overall, female couples currently outnumber male couples). Surveys also indicate about 5-percent of American adult males (roughly 8-million males) identify as “gay.” Further, data show there are a large unspecified number of males who do not identify as gay or bisexual, but practice homosexuality. One study showed that of those on the “Down Low,” (commonly defined as not identifying as gay or bisexual despite having same-sex experiences); “56-percent identified themselves as bisexual, 28-percent as homosexual, and 11-percent as heterosexual.”
Saints, my grief is worsened by Pew Research which reports “Approximately 55-percent of Christians in the U.S. favor allowing same-sex couples to marry legally.” Support varies significantly by denomination and Church attendance; ranging for example, from “roughly 76-79-percent support among white mainline Protestants, to only about 29-35-percent among white evangelical Protestants.” Christians who support such practices condone males having sexual intercourse with other males, and women doing the same; this is in stark opposition to the Word of God which Calls this practice an “abomination.” (Lev.18:22, 20:13, & Rom. 1:26-27, I Cor. 6:-9-10 & I Tim.1:9-10) Also, according to studies, Christians make up about 34-percent of the gay or lesbian population in the U.S.
The current normalization of divorce, cohabitation, homosexuality, and same-sex unions acts as a mirror, reflecting a societal trend of prioritizing personal lust/desire over Covenantal commitment and Biblical obedience. These behaviors indicate a failure to uphold Marriage as a sacred Covenant, to honor the woman as the crown of a man’s life (Prov.12:4); suggesting that many (males and females) within the Body of Christ are neglecting the discipline needed for True spiritual maturity.
I posit that the foolishness of the Man-Child evidenced by the data-points presented is certainly predictable and unavoidable, given most males lack knowledge and understanding about (1) who God is, (2) the divine Purposes of Marriage, (3) who they are as husbands and fathers in the sight of God, and (4) how they have been Anointed by God in Christ to treat their wives and children. Proverbs 7:7 Amplified Bible states, “And among the naive [the inexperienced and gullible], I saw among the youths a young man lacking [good] sense.”
The lack of knowledge about God and godly-relationships, by default, has largely caused men, including Christian men, to walk in accordance to the course of this world, according to Satan as children of disobedience fulfilling the desires of the flesh and mind. (Eph. 2:2-3) So far apart are most men from walking out God’s divine Will and Plan as husbands and fathers, as far as the east is from the west. Many are caught in a fishbowl of romantic fantasy, mistakenly believing the “perfect-partner” will swim along and automatically create a utopian life; leaving them blind to the reality of godly-courtship and marriage practice.
When on the other hand, we purposefully “act like men,” grounding our lives and families in Scripture and obeying God’s Design, we rise to spiritual maturity, reaching the “High-Bar” of His Love and living in His divine favor. Whether a man has experienced divorce, cohabitation, homosexuality, participated in domestic assault, or if he is conducting himself honorably in marriage and relationships; through Christ, we can all learn to love and respect women exceedingly greater than our human intellect and might can conceive. (I Cor.2:9)
The ultimate test of a man’s love is his obedience to the Holy Scriptures in his relationships, and the legacy he builds in the eyes of his wife and children. I say even more resoundingly to men everywhere, we are best measured as “lovers,” not by physical prowess, nor by emotions and short durations of niceties. But, how we confidently and consistently stand on the Word of God in our roles as godly husbands and fathers, and how our families experience us as “Christ’s leaders” in that Truth.
Saints, when you look around, how many couples do you see daily walking in such a way that it looks like Jesus is walking beside the wife, Christ loving her through the husband? How many of our nation’s children look up at their parents and see through marital-bliss the Royal Order of the Hierarchical Family of God? At I Corinthians 11:3 Paul wrote,
But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.
Praise God, looking back on my own life, I see how I fell far short of the High-Bar of Love in my relationships. While the saying goes, “It takes two to tango,” as leader of the home all failures in marriage were my own. Not having a biological role model to follow is not an excuse for marital failure, as I had my own relationship with God and Holy Bible, but sorely lacked an understanding of God and His Purposes for Marriage. God had to allow me to hit rock-bottom so I could finally surrender to His Plan. I’ve submitted my life completely to the Work of Christ, and trusting the Spirit of the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ living through me to transform me into the loving husband and father my family deserves, so that when the world looks at our family they see “Christ’s Church!”
I say to men, especially those born-again, True spiritual maturity, and the ability to love at a highest standard, does not start with doing more; it starts by deeply knowing and embracing “Who God is.” Yes, the secret to spiritual maturity is first setting our hearts on the Truth of who God is and letting that knowledge in all humility transform us. If we believe and know who God is we become, or certainly should become all consumed with a commitment to love Him and submit ourselves to His molding and making of us into what He wants us to be; and not according to what the world, Society, or even what we may selfishly desire to be.
I recently taught on the True Identity of God Almighty, The Self-Existent One. Most people in born-again Circles do not know the Identity of God, and consequently miss out in walking in True Holiness and the power of the supernatural in daily living. To all men, at this hour, I beg you to come to understand that God is “The Self-Existent One.”
Oh, that the men/male species understood and greatly apprised that God is “Self-Existent,” meaning He exist in and of Himself, is derived from nothing and dependent on nothing, as described in Exodus 3:14 (I AM WHO I AM). God is uncaused, eternal, and the sustainer of all creation. God’s Identity establishes Him as Creator rather than part of creation, independent of all needs.
Praise God, God holds the cosmos in His hand! Many men in born-again Circles have lost sight of who God is, or have not known of Him as such. God is the sole Creator of Mankind and every living thing in creation seen and unseen in Heaven, the earth, and beneath the earth. Therefore, men everywhere must “respond” to God’s Holiness by having a “filial fear” of God, bowing down with their lives in total worship of Him alone. For it is the “whole duty” of man to fear God and to keep His Commandments. (Eccl.12:1, 13) To remember to worship God from youth, without ceasing through life.
Filial fear of God is a deep, loving reverence for God that causes a believer in Christ to fear offending or separating from Him, acting as a "child-like" awe rather than "servile" terror of punishment. Filial fear arises from love and gratitude, motivating believers to “avoid sin,” because it is a stench in God’s nostrils sending the stench of corruption back to men (Is. 65:5, Amos 4:10, 5:21, and Gal. 6:7), and instead those who reverentially fear God desire with their whole-hearts to honor and obey Him in all things. Yea, God’s Word is esteemed higher than all people and things. If we as the male species possessed filial fear of Almighty God, we would never practice fornication, adultery, divorce, commit violence against women and children, engage in homosexual activity, or leave a woman and family without financial support! And, the response of the woman species would be to lock-hands with us and joyfully say, “Lead the way my lord!”
According to Genesis 1:27, God the Self-Existent One: “… created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him: male and female created he them.” Furthermore, Genesis 2:23-24 reveals The Self-Existent One’s Design for “Marriage,” where Adam prophetically defines this new reality, saying:
…This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Saints, this is where men must begin ascent to spiritual maturity, as few truly grasp an understanding of God’s “Purposes for Marriage,” and the nomenclature “husband” appointed by God to the man before and after the Fall of Adam. How about you Saints, do you know what God’s Purposes are for Marriage, and what the word “husband” means as assigned by God, the Self-Existent One?
When the purpose of a thing is unknown, abuse, misuse, or neglect is inevitable. Without understanding the intended function of Marriage, one cannot properly steward nor utilize the union as God intended, which most often leads to wasted potential or damage, as the union suffers from a lack of divine- direction and makes it vulnerable to external influences of the world inspired by Satan.
God’s Purposes for Marriage can be viewed in six distinct, actionable “Callings” that must shift our focus from “personal happiness,” to “Spiritual Mission.” You see most married couples and singles, male and female view the Marriage-Covenant as “personal attainment of satisfaction,” rather than a “God-ordained Covenant” to fulfill His Will and Plans. The Six key Purposes referenced in Scripture are as follows:
- Mirroring God's Image: Marriage is intended to reflect God’s character, love, and faithfulness to a “watching world.” Whole-hearted Love and faithfulness towards God alone, and one another in marriage. (Gen.1:27)
- Companionship and Unity: Providing a "helper" to prevent loneliness, creating a partnership where two become "One Flesh"—spiritually, emotionally, and physically.(Gen.2:18,24 & Mark10:8)
- Reflecting Christ and the Church: Ephesians 5:31-32 describes marriage as a “mystery” that illustrates the relationship between Christ and His Church.
- Raising “Godly” Offspring: Producing and raising children in a home that “diligently” teaches them about God’s Love and walking it out in daily living. (Gen.1:28, Deut. 6:4-9, & Eph.6:4)
- Holiness and Purity: Sanctifying the partners by encouraging selflessness and protecting each other from sexual immorality. (I Thess.4:3-5 & I Cor.7:3-5)
- Spiritual Teamwork: Working together in faith to fight spiritual battles and pursue God’s Purpose together in fulfilling the Great Commission. Yes, the husband and wife are intended to serve as a soul-winning team for Christ! (Eccl. 4:12, Matt.18:20, Mark 16:15-18 & Eph.6:10-18)
Saints, we must also understand that the Marriage-Covenant between man and woman is “temporal,” intended for this life and serves as an earthly partnership to fulfill “God’s Purposes,” with the union ending at death. (Matt.22:30, Rom.7:2, & I Cor. 7:39) While earthly marriage is meant for "better or worse" until death, it is seen as a “crucial training ground” for learning “love and service” that contributes to a believer’s eternal journey in Christ. Jesus Christ taught that in the “resurrection” they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in Heaven, and are “called the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.” Jesus explained that earthly marriage ends with death, and the afterlife does not involve the same marital structures. (Luke 20:34-36)
See how much our thinking of Marriage is elevating you to a higher/spiritual plain, men and women?
Now, regarding the nomenclature, “Husband,” given to the man in marriage and sacrificial Calling of serving as husband, it is important to understand his role Pre-fall and Post-fall of Adam. As there was a profound difference in the husband-wife relationship once sin entered the relationship. The “Fall” of Adam transformed a relationship of perfect, harmonious partnership into one often marked by conflict, struggle, and distorted roles.
Before the fall of Adam, in Genesis Chapter 2, the couples’ marital relationship enjoyed complete harmony and unity, and was fashioned to be “Partners” in supporting each other. They were “naked and not ashamed,” “symbolizing total trust,” vulnerability, and transparency. (Gen.2:24-25) Their roles were cooperative, with Adam providing “loving Leadership,” and Eve being a “helper fit for him.” (Gen.2:20)
Adam, as the “first image bearer” of the Holy Threeness and leader of the wife, was anointed and ordained by God to sit in four offices in Eden: Father, Priest, Prophet, and King. As Father, Adam is the first man and ancestor of all Humanity. He and Eve are the original parents from who all humans descent, representing the start of Human history. (Gen. 1:28 & 2:7) Adam was designed to “lead” with a “Priestly” responsibility to provide loving care to Eve in the sanctuary of Eden, to nurture her in fruitful obedience to God’s Commandments and care of creation. (Gen.1:28 & 3:15-17)
Adam served as “Prophet,” as not only through divine knowledge did he precisely predict the names of every living creature God brought before him, (Gen. 2:19) but he also proclaimed the sacred Marriage Covenant of “One Flesh,” named the female “woman,” and later named her Eve, the mother of all living after his fall. (Gen. 2:23-24 & 3:20) Adam as “King,” with Eve by his side, was given by God dominion and authority over the recreated earth and commanded him to “subdue it;” to bring the entire earthly realm (the tangible universe, including the earth’s environment and atmosphere) under God’s Righteous Rule, which encompassed handling the adversary, Satan. (Gen.1:28)
In these four roles Adam was to lead Eve with servant-hearted care, acting as a “helper” to her, as she was to him, long before hierarchy entered their relationship. (Gen.2:23-25) And notably, before the fall, there were no hurt feelings, disagreements, or struggle for dominance between them. There was no “issue” that came between their love and oneness. (Gen.2:25)
After the fall of Adam, Genesis Chapter 3 reveals the corruption of the Marital Covenant, substituting “partnership,” with “disharmony” and initiating a lasting pattern of relational dysfunction for future generations. Saints, I want you to understand that Adam’s sin shattered the original harmony of creation, creating a "cosmic fall” that fractured relationships between humanity and God, severed human intimacy, and brought violent disruption to the natural world. This rupture turned peaceful coexistence into a state of predatory instinct among every kind of living thing, while the environment and atmosphere, once harmonious, fell into a state of chaos.
In fact, the first mention of the nomenclature, “husband” is found in Genesis 3:6, not in the joy of creation and celebration of their union, but at the “moment” Eve shares the forbidden fruit, binding her partner Adam in the fall. The Scripture reads:
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
In the Hebrew Translation, the most common term for "husband," and used in this Verse is Ba’al, which literally means "master," "owner," or “possessor” of the wife. In the moment Adam ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the relationship changed from being her spiritual leader/mentor, to her “master/owner.” Or you could say, he transitioned from a partner to a controller/handler.
In Genesis 3:16, as part of the judgment for the couple’s sin, God predicted that, as a result of sin, the relationship (influenced by Satan) would be marked by the wife’s desire to control her husband, and the husband’s desire to rule over or dominate his wife. The Scripture reads:
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
The loving leadership and joyful submission in the Sanctuary of Eden before the fall, was replaced by the “potential” for harsh tyranny by men, and manipulative control by women. Umm, the “War of the Roses,” the battle of the sexes! My, my, my, sin would cause the couple to turn from, “companions” to “competitors.” And don’t we see this “curse” played out in the theater of marriages and relationships today!
Arnold, you never listen to me, you idiot!
I’m right, you are wrong! It’s my way or the highway!
The entire building can hear us screaming, what must they think of our Sanctuary?
Strangers in the night wishing for another paradise?
In Fallen-marriage within the sanctuary of Eden, there would be blame and selfishness permeating the relationship, illustrated by Adam blaming Eve for the sin, and she the Serpent. (Gen.3:12-13) There would be mounting distrust between each partner, as trapped in their sins, they became ashamed of their nakedness, separately covering themselves with fig leaves, and hiding from God, which disrupted their openness with each other, and with God. (Gen. 3:7-8)
Adam, the husband and priest of Eve, Pre-fall was established as the covenantal representative of his household, and bore final accountability before God for his family’s spiritual health. As head, his role was one of sacrificial protection rather than merely ruling; this is seen when God Calls to Adam first after the fall, holding him responsible for the “spiritual direction” of his home. (Gen.3:8) While Eve was deceived by the Serpent, (I Tim.2:14) Adam was not, as He was first given the Commandments of God concerning the keeping of Eden. (Gen.2:15-17)
Saints, the takeaway of what changed after the fall is, the first couple’s sin did not create the idea of husband leadership/headship and the wife’s help/submissiveness, as these roles existed prior to the transgression, but sin grossly “corrupted” their roles. Adam’s sin made Marriage an ongoing struggle, difficult, requiring work to “resist” tendencies of the curse influenced by Satan, such as passivity in husbands and rebellion in wives, or for the husband to exert power over the wife (e.g. constant monitoring, isolation from support networks, economic abuse, and intimidation and threats), and the wife through devious means (e.g. guilt tripping, love bombing, the silent treatment, and withholding intimacy) to attempt to control the husband.
Down through the ages, the Mosaic Law concerning Marriage served as a mirror reflecting the hardness of human hearts, strengthening the reality of sin only to point toward the Grace of Jesus Christ. While regulating marriage, the Law of Moses merely highlighted Humanities’ incapacity to uphold it, proving the necessity of Jesus. For no man could fully love his wife according to the Law’s demands. Oh yes Saints, a man needs Jesus, a woman needs Jesus, we all need Jesus to teach us Marriage; to help us live out marriage to meet the High-Bar of the Love of God, the Self-Existent One, has Purposed!
According to Matthew 5:17-18, Jesus came to fulfill, not abolish, the Law and the Prophets (the entire Old Testament). He achieved this by perfectly obeying the Law, embodying its Purpose, and bringing all prophetic Scriptures regarding the Messiah to their designed goal and completion, including laws governing the Marriage Covenant. Praise God, only the Gospel enables the husband and wife to move back toward the original design of love, sacrifice and mutual service in accordance with God’s Purposes for Marriage. Say this with me Saints, “Jesus Christ died on the cross for all marriages!”
Human-led marriages can try all they will, but they can never reach and grab hold of the High-Bar of Love without Jesus anointing and leading the Way of the husband. (John15:5) Without Jesus anointing the head of the husband with oil, the marriage is rudderless! Most of Society today, including in Christian Circles find that marriage is “hard work,” partially because as men, we are constantly “resisting” in our carnal thought-life the curse of sin handed down by Adam of either dominating our spouses, ignoring or placating their needs, or failing to lead them well.
But, within the heart of every born-again Christian husband and father, God through the Holy Ghost has placed the anointed skill-set necessary to fulfill the divine Purposes of God for Marriage established from the beginning; giving to the husband the main ingredient needed to please God, and oh yes, please his wife in every aspect of marital need. (Rom.5:5) For God has shed His “Love” abroad in our hearts (males and females) by the Holy Ghost. God has given to the husband (the wife as well) the gift of God’s Love described in I Corinthian 13:4-8, and 13. I know of few men who know these Verses by heart, and apply them in daily living, starting with loving their wives and children. Thus, at best we live as the “Man-Child.”
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Now, Men/Husbands (holding your wife’s hand) say these affirmations with me out-loud by faith in the finished works of Jesus Christ:
*Through Jesus Christ, I have received the gift of God’s Love (The Self-Existent One) to love my wife and family!
*With God’s Love, I will reach and grab hold of the High-Bar of Love and never let go!”
*Our Marriage is, and forever will be, a reflection of Christ and His Church for all the world to see.”
*As the Master Jesus Christ demonstrated and taught godly-leadership through servanthood, I will become likewise, leading by loving and serving as Christ serves the Church.
Saints, “Marriage” in Christ is not a burden to be carried, nor a human “ball and chain” as some believe, but a sacred dance of grace where two-souls become a living reflection of God and Christ and all of Heaven. When Christ is at the center, marriage isn't hard work; it is the joyous, sublime art of two born-again Christians “dying to self” to live more fully united as “One-Flesh.” In fact, in the New Testament, the word “husband” in the Greek translation “syzygos” conveys the meaning, “yoked together” with the wife in Christ. Every day, the couple submitted to and dwelling in Christ’s Love, counts it all joy and ecstasy dying for one-another because they are yoked together by The Self-Existent One with Jesus!
Praise the Holy name of Jesus, through Christ’s finished work on the cross, God has empowered married couples to walk in the original Covenant of Marriage, where the husband sacrificially loves and serves, and the wife honors in submission to the husband’s obedience to Christ, displaying the Gospel to the world. Every born-again Christian Marriage, no matter its disposition and trouble of circumstances, must know and embrace with thanksgiving the work of Christ’s cross on their marriage saying:
“Thank you Jesus that Your blood didn't just save us individually; it redeemed our marriage. You’ve brought us back to the original plan: one flesh in a divine covenant, restored and made whole."
Now men, as we understand that our marriages are in Christ and redeemed by Him, we must learn to “love and serve” our wives as Jesus Loves and serves the Church. Jesus Loves the Church through “Servant Leadership,” so must the husband imitate His Servant Leadership before the wife. God expects the husband overtime and disciplined learning, and practice, to become as proficient in loving the wife, as Christ is in loving the Church.
A perfect training ground for the husband in learning “servanthood” in Marriage is with love and humility (frequently) in holiness “washing the wife’s feet,” as Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. Examine John 16:13-17 Jesus said:
13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
Jesus washed His disciples' feet to model radical humility, service, and love, instructing followers (in this case husbands) to do the same. Men, when was the last time you performed a spiritual washing of your wife’s feet, and children’s feet; as something supernatural happens in this holy-place of service of love and humility? Just as Jesus washed the feet of the doubting and imperfect disciples, think of the grace and peace that would be administered to the wife and home by lovingly washing her feet in the midst of spats and difficulties. Think of the roots of spiritual maturity that can be sown into the family by routinely setting aside a night of foot-washing shared with wife and children, followed by Holy Communion and devotionals.
I tell you husbands, with this type of home-life, no manner of evil nor plague can come near the home! (Ps.91:10) Praise God, spiritual foot-washing demonstrates servant leadership, disrupts social status, fosters intimacy through vulnerability, removes pride, and symbolizes cleansing and forgiveness of sin. Jesus indicates that serving others in this way ensures participation in His Kingdom. If you make foot-washing and worship of God a regular practice in your home, the glory of God will rest upon your entire household, animals will take their rest on your land, other Christian families will learn of and follow your example, and your neighbors will see that God has made your home a sanctified delightsome land!
Further, Jesus Christ teaches through foot-washing, Christian leadership/headship isn't about position; it's about service. If we fail to serve our wives at home where True leadership begins, we have no foundation to serve the world with the Message of the Gospel. It's unsurprising that we see so few Christian men, including clergy, preaching the Gospel in the streets. When we fail to lead our wives and children in spiritual and domestic service, we lack the fundamentals required to effectively fulfill the Great Commission. Saints, we cannot build an anointed Church, without an anointed home-life manifested through love and service between husband and wife.
Now, let’s go even higher in spiritual maturity. In writing to the Saints at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul sets forth instructions for Marriage for husbands and wives to follow. Husbands in Christ are required to love their wives as Jesus modeled in loving His Church; in fulfillment of God’s Purposes for Marriage established before the foundations of the world, and in the creation of Adam and Eve Pre-fall. Examine Ephesians 5:21-33.
21Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
From reading this Passage on the duties of the husband, my immediate takeaway is, this “High-Calling” can only be met by born-again Christian husbands; those who possess the Spirit of the Life and Mind of Jesus Christ and are sold-out to the Master. This High-Calling requires husbands to act as stewards of their wives' spiritual, emotional, and physical health, prioritizing their flourishing above their own in daily living.
In Verse 25, husbands are Commanded “to love their wives as Jesus Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it.” Here Paul is specifically referring to Christ’s demonstrated sacrificial birthing of the Church, upon death, through the piercing of His side while He hung on the cross and forthwith came out blood and water.
Praise the Holy name of Jesus, the piercing of Jesus was the picture of God reaching into the side of His Son to form a bride for Him, the Church. (John 19:34) This, directly paralleling Eve’s creation from Adam’s side/rib. (Gen.2:21-22) Just as Eve was formed from the side of a deep-sleeping Adam, the Church (Christ’s Bride) was formed from the side during Christ’s sleep of death.
Eve was taken from Adam’s side/rib, symbolizing equality and partnership. Similarly, water and blood from Jesus’ side, symbolizing the sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion (purification and life of the Church) which established the Church in “Perfect Union” with Christ. Both events depict the creation of the “bride” (Eve/Church) and from the side of the “bridegroom” (Adam/Jesus).
Thus we conclude, Christ as the “last Adam,” and the Church as the “new Eve.” Just as Eve was formed from Adam's side to be bone of his bone, the Church, the Bride of Christ, was born from His pierced side, made “One” with Him in flesh and Spirit. Every born-again Christian, male and female has within their hearts the Nature of Christ to love as He Loves! Just as Christ carries the wound in his side, the eternal, pierced seal that birthed His Church, He Calls husbands and wives to view their Marriage as a “Sacred Covenant,” sealed by His same “Sacrificial Love.”
In Marriage, the couple is to remember, know, and embrace the Gospel about their Marriage-relationship, that through the finished work of Christ on the cross, the marriage has been “redeemed” by the blood of Jesus Christ, and restored to the original divine Purposes and order that God established for Adam and Eve in the Sanctuary of Eden before the fall.
Praise God, no matter the current disposition of marriage (lethargic, apathetic, pathetic, broken, unfulfilling, or desiring to come to new heights in spiritual maturity) every born-again couple in Christ must know that Jesus was wounded (pierced) for the transgression of Adam in marriage in failing to love and protect Eve from deception (Is. 53:3), and through the declaration of faith, receive the redeemed marriage Christ purchased with His death, burial, and Resurrection on the third-day.
For in Christ, Marriage is no longer competitive, but full of companionship and compassion! United in faith, the couple recognizes the husband's sacrificial headship (father, priest, prophet, and king) as a reflection of Christ's Grace, empowering him to shepherd his family and subdue the enemy Satan. Praise God, the redeemed home is a miniature “Church of Christ,” where the husband leads in prayer. Because he loves his wife with sacrificial care and honors her as a “fellow heir to the grace of life,” their prayers rise freely to God, creating an environment where their petitions are favored. (I Pet.3:7) Oh men, do you now understand why Satan tries with all diligence to keep you from loving your wife as Christ loved the Church; to block and hinder “Ministry” and your prayers to God for healing, health, and prosperity?
Now men, as redeemed husbands gently and lovingly take your wife again by the hand and declare by faith “Restoration” over the Marriage, saying:
“Lord, I take my place as head, as Christ is head of the Church, leading my wife and family with the sacrifice of praise, declaring our marriage is a consecrated Covenant from the foundations of the world, perfectly aligned with Your Will; bone of bone, the One-flesh, equally yoked marriage!” (Heb.13:15, Matt.19:5-66)
This actionable act of faith invokes God's Power into the Marriage, and establishes it as a Christ-centered home based in sacrificial love. Next husbands, affirm the “Truth” over the circumstances of your Marriage, saying:
“No matter the current apathy, cruelty, infidelity, or insobriety, we stand on the Truth that Jesus Christ has already paid the price to make all things new, including our marriage. In the middle of this mess, we shout the victory, because our victory was won 2,000-years ago on the cross, and we believe in the total restoration of this marriage.”
Hallelujah, say:
“Our Marriage is free from all curses of sickness and illness, including mental fatigue and depression; sexual malfunction and dysfunction, as well as financial debt and lack because we walk in the blessing of Abraham afforded to us through the cross of Jesus Christ. (Gal.3:6-9, 13-14) Our family (husband, wife, and children) are anointed with Holy Ghost Power to get wealth to be a blessing to families around the world, according to Abrahamic Covenant.”(Gen.12:1-3, Deut. 8:18 & Acts 1:8)
Now, husbands lets go to work in loving and serving the wife, in practical living, as Jesus loves the Church. Let the Holy Ghost, teach and guide you in love and service of the wife. And, wives it is your job to submit yourselves to such treatment as unto the Lord; calling even your husband “lord” of the home as Abraham’s wife Sara did, without fear or amazement. (Eph. 5: 21, 24 & I Pet. 3:1-6)
As mentioned, based on Ephesians Chapter 5, husbands are to love their wives with a self-sacrificial, nurturing love modeled in Christ’s death, the "piercing of His side," which birthed the Church. This involves the husband completely yielding his will and life, to Christ, to allow the Holy Ghost to teach and guide in loving the wife with Christ’s sacrificial unconditional love, in treating her as his own body, in prioritizing her holiness and well-being over his own, and loving her without expecting anything in return.
As Christ gave Himself for the Church, a husband must sacrifice his time, desires, and comfort for his wife. He must act as a guardian of her “spiritual growth,” helping her become who God created her to be (washing her with "the Word" of God). In order to help her grow, he must be well nourished, studied, and living in the Word of God himself. For “man does not live by bread alone but by every word of God,” Jesus said. (Matt. 4:4)
The husband also must cherish and nurture his wife, just as he cares for his own body, treating her with gentleness and affection and providing for her needs. As a man is treasured by God, so must his wife be the supreme delight of his heart, to be loved and passionately desired within the sanctuary and sanctity of marriage.
Further, the husbands’ commitment to her must be “unconditional;” the love must be proactive and not dependent on her performance, mimicking Christ's faithfulness to His Church that is not perfect in behavior and performance. Just as Jesus mediates for us, a husband acts as a covering for his wife’s frailties, sacrificing his own pride to guard her reputation. He must seek to understand and honor her, taking her feelings and needs into account before his own. He must create a “Safe Presence” for her; establishing an environment where she feels safe, valued, and honored above all others in the Human race.
To this end, the husband, as “prophet,” “priest,” and “king” must pray over his wife and children for he carries a heavy anointing and blessing in the Power of his spoken words and hands. For example, husbands consider offering a prayer over your wife and family like this:
"Heavenly Father, thank You for my beloved wife. Help me never to take her for granted for she is my unique gift from You and crown. Help me to love, cherish, respect, and protect her as she deserves. Lord, give her your Peace, Wisdom, and Strength to do everything you have called her to do as your faithful servant, queen of our home and mother of our children. Guard her heart and mind, and help her to always know how much she is loved by You and me. In Jesus name Amen.”
"Heavenly Father, I thank you for the gift of our children. Indeed, they are “godly seeds” that you have given into our hands to teach and guide in whole-hearted love and obedience to You all the days of their lives. I thank You for the Promise of Acts 2:38-39 coming to pass in each of their lives; repentant of sins, confession of Jesus as Lord, water baptized, and filled with the gift of the Holy Ghost so they maybe in Your Service all the days of their lives.
I commend them into Your keeping, to protect and bless them. I bind every demonic spirit that would come against my wife and children. Angels, watch over them so that in the strength of God’s Love they may enjoy prosperity, possess the gift of Christ’s Perfected Peace in all circumstances, and always bear witness to Your glory in the world. In spiritual maturity and bravery help them live out their days with holy spouses according to the sacred Marriage Covenant You created from the foundations of the world. In Jesus name Amen."
In closing, let us end this Father’s Day Sermon with Prayer. Father, we come to you in the mighty and precious name of Jesus Christ. Eternal God, we worship You alone as The Self-Existent One, the “I AM WHO I AM.” We thank You for the beauty of Your creation and for establishing Marriage as a sacred institution designed for Your glory. Thank You, Heavenly Father, for sending Your only begotten Son Jesus Christ, who through His sacrificial blood, has redeemed Marriage from brokenness and mediocrity, restoring it to a Covenant of purity, love, and service unto You.
Lord, we pray for a sweeping revival across the United States and abroad, bringing healing to marriages of every race and background. We specifically ask that You open the eyes of men, married and single, to see where they have fallen short in loving women and children, softening their hearts to embrace God-ordained roles with Repentance, humility, and genuine commitment and affection. Father, by the Power of the Holy Ghost, I ask that You convict husbands to move past childish behaviors and carnal performance-based love. Grant them the grace to put away immature ways of marital control, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, hostility, neglect, and abuse. Raise them up as “True Christ-Men,” who through Your divine Purposes mirror Christ's sacrificial love and service for the Church, before their wives and children.
Lord, help husbands understand that we must not waste this wonderful supernatural Grace of the piercing of Your Son’s side that catapulted Marriage from mediocrity and destruction, to purification and Holiness before You in love. Your Word declares, let the redeemed of the Lord say so! (Ps.107:2) And so on this day, as redeemed husbands, we reach forth and take hold of the High-Bar of Love and commit to never letting go.
We have confessed new marriage that reflects the relationship of Christ Church, and commit into your hands the keeping of every Marriage that believes in the work of Christ’s cross to empower husbands to spiritually grow and mature into heads that lead through loving servant leadership. Husbands that view Marriage as a lasting Sacred Vow rather than a temporary contract ended in a courthouse in anger, pain, and sorrow. Husbands that see Marriage as a partnership where both spouses “intentionally” align their marriage with God's Purposes acting as stewards of the grace of Life.
Husbands that work as partners with their wives, serving the Lord through study and application of the Word of God, prayer, and shared God-centered goals in fulfillment of the Great Commission. That in the home they grow in selfless service; prioritizing the needs of the spouse over self, nurturing and cherishing each other day-by-day.
Finally Lord, may their relationships be a living legacy, a testament before their children and the world that a marriage rooted in Jesus is the hallmark of joy and divine bliss, enduring from this life through the final passage of death they depart. Thank You for giving to Humanity the gift of Holy Matrimony to prepare men and women yoked as “One” in Christ in ways of love and service for a greater glory which is to come. Amen Thank God for the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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