The importance for a man (Head of the family) to walk with GOD

Passage : Luke 11:21-23 (LSG)

“ When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away all the armor in which he trusted and divides up his plunder. 23Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters .”

Introduction

From my childhood, we grew up observing our parents. My father was very busy, going to work Monday through Friday and coming home late in the evening, while my mother, with a flexible schedule, came home a little earlier and took care of us. This pattern is common in most families and seems normal because the man here works hard (as the word of God recommends) and it is through his toil that he brings home food and pays the bills. And the mother, who gives birth with pain, takes care of her little ones.

But looking more closely at the current model, we find that religious matters, faith, the search for GOD, Christian teaching/education, intercessions, almsgiving, praise, and prayers have become the burden of women, whereas this was not the case before.

Diary

1. Why is the man no longer the Christian leader of his household?

2. What are the consequences of the current configuration?

3. What is expected of man according to the word of God?

4. Questions & Answers

We will examine these three questions from a societal perspective, but primarily from a religious perspective.

1. Why is the man no longer the Christian leader in the home?

We live in a world where the relentless pursuit of money has become the primary motivation for all genders and social classes, and particularly for men. Indeed, money is necessary for marriage, food, housing, family support, personal fulfillment, and so on, making it difficult for a man to imagine living without it. Money is central to all relationships, all discussions, all needs, and so forth. Society's perception of us is based on the size of our bank account; respect and love depend on it, and the value we are given is unfortunately linked to the size of our bank balance.

This is even described in the Bible in...

“Ecclesiastes 9:14-16 : 14There was a small town with few inhabitants. A powerful king came and attacked it. He dug a siege trench against it. 15Now there was a poor but wise man there. He could have saved the town by his wisdom, but no one remembered this poor man. 16So I say, Wisdom is better than strength, but when a wise person is poor, people despise their wisdom and do not listen to what they say.”

Worse still, we live in a world where everyone is led to believe that the only way to achieve a certain income level, to break through a certain glass ceiling, is to compromise oneself by committing heinous acts: pernicious cults, homosexuality, occult practices, witchcraft, and so on. Thus, a man's mind is focused day and night on projects, the pursuit of excellence to land a job, keep his position and his status; the search for legitimate or underhanded solutions to get what he wants, and so forth. This is all the more exacerbated in Africa, where social pressure and the opinions of others have a multiplier effect, in that one must take care of the extended family, and so forth.

After spending the entire day thinking and/or working, what's left for us? Once again, modern society has distracted us and taught us that we need to relax: over a drink (remember all the beer commercials that tell us that after effort comes reward?), over a movie, watching television, with friends, mistresses, girlfriends, etc. Television has invaded our phones and accompanies us even to the bathroom, to bed, and just about everywhere. We have dedicated groups of friends for partying; we love spending time with them, talking about anything and everything, flirting with young women even if we're married, indulging in excessive food and drink, and so on.

After work, TV/phone time, and the social events, what's left? Spending time with family at home, taking care of one's partner, playing a little with the children (for those who have them), and sleeping while making plans for the next day. With the hope of becoming a better person, wealthier, more famous, and more influential.

The world today does everything to distract people from God, who are always focused on the future and rarely on the present. How many times at the end of the day have we felt dissatisfied, not having accomplished everything? Yet we have 24 hours, which are more than enough. The human heart finds much more pleasure in spending time on these trivialities than in seeking God.

The Bible tells us:

1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, they do not love God the Father. 16 These are the things found in the world: the evil desires of the self, the desire to possess things, and the pride of life. These come not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world does not endure, nor do evil desires. But whoever does the will of God lives forever .

Matthew 15:14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.

2. What are the consequences of the current configuration?

As we can see, men are increasingly shirking their responsibilities; women are running the households; men have become incapable of making decisions; they fear their wives and girlfriends more than God; they no longer seek God's face, and society is paying the price.

I attended a sermon once, and the pastor shared this saying: difficult times produce courageous men, courageous men produce favorable times, favorable times produce weak men, and weak men produce difficult times (don't we see these difficult times? Who is blind?) . Have we become weak in faith, needing to be reprimanded like children by our mothers or wives to go to church, to pray, or to fast? The king has abandoned his position of leader to occupy a subordinate role and hide behind lies.

We question the existence of GOD, although our eyes are able to see the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, the sea, and all of GOD's amazing works, we believe in our own abilities and are convinced that we can possess anything we desire just by willpower.

We see our lives and those of our families battered in every way, facing difficulties on all fronts, hardship, and daily fear, stress, anxiety, and exhaustion due to endless calculations to find solutions not only for ourselves but also for those dependent on us. We have no peace, and the worst part is that we will never admit it because we have always been told, " A man doesn't complain, a man doesn't cry, a man must not show weakness. " And it's true, our society lacks strong, courageous, and valiant men. We can cry in secret, nurture our feelings, and confide in our loved ones, our friends, etc., but GOD tells us:

Jeremiah 17 :5 This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is he who turns his heart away from me, who trusts in humans and seeks strength in human means! 6 He is like a bush in barren ground; he will not see prosperity come. He will dwell among the rocks of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. 7 But he who trusts in me and relies on me, I, the Lord, bless him.”

All these feelings unfortunately spread like a toxic gas around us, producing angry women, unhappy women, dissatisfied women, and unbalanced children who lack education. We see the world gradually turning its back on God and indulging in dark practices; we all see it, and we do nothing, and all this is happening because humanity has turned its back on God.

• Romans 1:23 Instead of worshiping the glorious God who never dies, they worshiped objects. 6 Therefore God gave them free rein to indulge in shameful lusts. 27 Even their women no longer lie with men, but with other women—and this is contrary to nature. 28 And the men do the same. They no longer lie with women, but lust after one another. They lie together—and this is shameful!—receiving themselves the punishment that their wicked ways bring. 29 Since they refused to acknowledge God, God gave them free rein to follow their own depraved minds, to do what ought not to be done. 29 They are full of all unrighteousness. They practice evil, they covet, they are wicked, they are full of jealousy. They murder, they quarrel, they deceive, they act recklessly. They tell lies about people, 30they speak ill of them. They are enemies of God, they insult others, they are proud, they boast, they find every way to do evil. They do not obey their parents. 31They are foolish, they do not keep their promises, they are heartless and without pity. 32Yet they know full well the judgment of God. Those who do such things deserve death. Well, not only do they do these things, but they also approve of those who do them!

  
  

We see families chained in spiritual ties desperately seeking help from so-called prophets, marabouts, healers, yet there are men trained in the image of GOD in these houses.

• Genesis 25:21 / But Rebekah could not have children. So Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife. The Lord heard his prayer, and Rebekah conceived.

We see homes where women struggle as best they can to educate themselves and their children on matters of faith, while there are men in these homes who are waiting for the Champions League final and are already making predictions about the next World Cup.

Instead of educating, we are the first to push women into vice, adultery, and sin ( you don't buy a chicken in a bag ); we are the first to teach lying in our homes; the first to open the door to demons and evil spirits because of our dubious associations instead of protecting our families.

• Luke 17 :1 Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be opportunities to sin. But woe to him who causes others to sin! 2 Suppose someone ties a large stone around his neck and throws him into the sea. It is better for him than to cause one of these little ones to do evil. 3 Be careful!

We see young people compromising themselves for money and material possessions, yet all the men of God, the great kings, were immensely rich. Who benefits from this situation? We no longer see miracles in churches, and even when we witness them, we believe it's the work of the devil. Why?

Today, I would like to remind us that we are superior beings created in the image of GOD and must be connected to GOD to repel evil, to protect our families, to bring blessing into our homes, and to testify to the greatness of GOD.

• Psalm 14: 2 From heaven the Lord looks down on the inhabitants of the earth. He considers them: Is there anyone who understands, anyone who seeks God? 3 All have turned aside from the right way, all have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one!

3. What is expected of man according to the word of God?

a. Rediscovering one's spiritual identity and authority

In the beginning, God first created man. God created a magnificent garden for man and placed him there. God spoke to man , not woman, giving him instructions on what he should and should not do. God wanted to give man a similar helper by creating the animals and asking him to name them, but man found no pleasure in this. To gladden the heart of the man he had formed, God gave him woman.

To lead Adam ( the man, head of the household ) and his wife into sin, why did the serpent approach the woman instead of the man? The Bible says, " The woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom; so she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it ." It is clear that women are attracted to what is pleasing to the eye, to what is precious, and sometimes to what is forbidden, and that seduction can lead a woman to err in her judgment. The man was punished because he listened to his wife, yet God's instruction to the man, as head of the wife, was not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge.

• Genesis 3:17 “ He said to the man, ‘ Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, “You must not eat from it,” cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. ’”

The second thing is that GOD first formed the physical man from dust; this refers to the animal man taken from the earth. Then came the spiritual man, that is, the Spirit that GOD placed within us. And the word of GOD tells us:

• 1 Corinthians 15:46 But the spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the earth, he was of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man. 50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption .

• Galatians 5:16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 The works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, quarrels, jealousies, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 23Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

  
  

God expects people to walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. Walking according to the Spirit requires subduing the flesh, taming it, controlling it, and channeling it. This involves limiting one's exposure to the disproportionate pleasures of the flesh and increasing one's exposure to those of the Spirit through reading the Word, meditation, reflecting on God's will, exhortation, fasting, and rejecting immorality.

• (Romans 10:17): "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."

  
  

• (John 6:63): The words of Jesus are spirit and life, producing the faith necessary to follow him.

• (Hebrews 11:11): Faith grows by believing in God's faithfulness in fulfilling his promises, like Sarah for her descendants.

• (Hebrews 12:2): Faith is produced and consummated by keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the creator of our faith.

  
  

b. Seeking God without babysitting

Do we truly know God enough to hope to produce faith? On the contrary, today people are the first to doubt the existence of God, of Jesus Christ, of the Holy Spirit. They combine worldly knowledge to question God's existence. They mock those who pray, they mock those who seek faith, they find it bizarre that those who do not embrace the world, those who do not commit adultery, who do not indulge in excess, those who do not do things in secret. They are guided by the passions of their flesh and convince themselves that the path they follow is the right one, yet God expects us to be devoted to Him, to seek His face, and to live according to the Spirit in order to produce the fruits of the Spirit.

Jesus Christ asks us today (we men) to be devoted to him

• John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he cuts off, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

c. We must respect the Lord and obey his commands

It is important for us to respect the Lord and obey his commandments in order to:

• To be happy : Psalm 32: Behold the happy man: God takes away his iniquity, he pardons his sin. 2Behold the happy man: he does not deceive anyone, and the Lord does not count his iniquity against him.

• Being protected from danger : John 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life with God. They will never die, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father has given them to me, and my Father is more powerful than all. No one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 My Father and I are one.”

• Acquiring Wisdom : James 1:5 / 5If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, and God will give you wisdom. For God gives generously to all without finding fault. 6But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt. The one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8This person does not know how to choose his path: Sometimes he goes forward, sometimes he goes backward.

• Being in Abundance : Psalm 34:10 9Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. 10Honor the Lord, you his people, for those who fear him lack nothing. 11The rich may want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing .

  
  

d. To regain one's spiritual authority and become role models in the image of Christ

Finally, the man is the head of the woman just as Christ is the head of the church. A home is defined as the place where the family lives, and the nuclear family consists of a man and a woman. The head is defined as the person who commands, who exercises authority and decisive influence, the person who provides material and moral guidance for the family.

Today, are we examples of morality? Are we equipped to teach God's laws and ways in our homes? Or have we shirked our responsibilities, leaving a void that women are trying to fill? Indeed, God expected man to be devoted to Him because He knew He had placed sufficient strength within him to obey His word, to endure trials, to overcome evil, to guide his household, and to bear fruit. If every man behaved this way, we would have more secure and better-balanced wives and children. A proverb says in our culture, "The fish always rots from the head down." Let us carefully examine our homes, scrutinize our children, our wives, and our lives. What kind of fruit are we bearing?

We see in the Bible how God blessed Abraham, how Isaac prayed for his wife Rebekah who was barren and she gave birth, how Tobias (son of Tobit) delivered Sarah from the evil spirit that caused the death of all the men who married her, how David's blessing extended to Solomon, how Moses led a whole people in the desert for 40 years, how Joseph was raised to the rank of king by the will of God, etc.

Everything that has been made and everything that exists belongs to God. The devil created nothing, but we have been convinced that to succeed we must belong to the devil and turn our backs on God. The question I urge you to ask yourselves is: why this maneuver? We have lost our leadership qualities in every way and have become those who incite young girls to prostitution, women to adultery, we steal, we abuse children, we commit excesses of all kinds, and so on.

• Matthew 12:30 and Luke 11:23 : "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters."

While we continue to philosophize about our lives, our desires, our plans, the existence of God, who Jesus Christ is, wondering if all of this is true or not, we must remember that time passes. Life expectancy for men in West and Central Africa is generally between 55 and 60 years (according to 2019-2022 estimates).

• 2 Corinthians 5:10 We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Then each one will receive what is due for what he has done, good or evil, during his life on earth.