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WWJD...or...What does She want me to do?
By Art Hobba
(excerpts from
Called to War)
Too
many Christian men have, in the name of scripture, disregarded
their wives' opinions, warnings and God-given intuition that
often uniquely allow them to see the whole picture better than
we do. Leveraging the doctrine of submission and obedience that
has been taught in many churches that women are to submit to
their husbands (Ephesians 5:22; I Peter 3:1), some men have used
the Word of God like a hammer to "wear the pants in the family"
and have it our way most or all of the time. I have done this in
the past, and I will confess that some of the scars that I bear
tell the true story of how God disciplined me because I did not
listen to, or honor, my wife.
On the other hand, I see so many guys out there that have told
God they will follow God at any cost, but with a readymade
escape hatch that says, "God, I will go and follow you, fight
the good fight, and step out in faith if my beloved wife says I
can (gives me permission). You see, Lord, as I understand my
role, I must keep her happy first. That is what a loving husband
is called to do in the Bible. If she goes, then, you betcha,
I'll go too, with all of my heart."
Now I understand I am on some seriously dangerous ground here.
It will be easy to be misunderstood, especially by Christian
female readers. However, we are clearly called to lead, nurture,
serve, and protect our wives and children. This is actually
pretty simple to do. Love and obey God with all of our heart,
soul, mind, and strength first and foremost. Wife and family
come a distant second as a standalone priority. Yet, in that
total loving of God is the role, duty, and even mandate of
loving our wives in the same way as Christ loves His church and
died for her. The catch is that we must honestly monitor the
primacy of our devotion to God. Look at Luke 14:25-27 where
Jesus is about to deliver one of his tougher statements:
"Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them, he
said: 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and
mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, yes,
even his own life he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does
not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.'"
Jesus
was pretty clear that our love for our families should be such a
distant second in our hearts that it can be described as the
chasm between "hate" and our love for God. I wrote it was
simple, not easy. It is the simple things that are
sometimes the most difficult to put into practice!
Read more about walking the line
of sacrificially serving our wives and families, while
simultaneously following Jesus with humble courage in
Called to War.
Art Hobba is the founder of
Core 300, a 501c3
mens ministry dedicated to calling men
to authenticity, and the author of the soon to be released book
Called to War: Out of the
stands...Into the Arena
by Xulon Publishers due out in April of 2010.
Pre-order the book at
www.calledtowar.com
now at 30% off, and learn how to win the spiritual war!
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