Submission, a Biblical Principle that Gets a Bad Rap

On December 10, 2015 By Dr. Casey LewisIn Family, Practical2 Comments

It is highly controversial in this day and age to talk about a wife submitting to her husband. It, however, is a biblical concept, which means we can’t avoid it just because it is controversial.

Submission is universal and voluntary

In Colossians 3:18 Paul writes,

“Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.” (Col. 3:18)

Zeroing in on the second half of the verse for a moment, we learn that a wife’s submission is fitting for all times and places. In others words, Paul’s command wasn’t solely for his day. Rather it is still active and alive today, which means it’s something that is expected of all Christian women.

Even though it is expected, it isn’t to be forced on women. Submission is voluntary. Wives are not slaves or servants who are to be controlled and dominated by their husbands. Instead, they are to voluntarily submit to God’s command as obedient followers of Christ.

What does it mean for a wife to submit to her husband?

Let me start by saying what it doesn’t mean because I think that will clear up some misunderstandings.

Submitting to your husband doesn’t mean you are to be dominated by your husband – A husband is supposed to love his wife, not harshly rule over her.
Submitting to your husband doesn’t mean you can’t disagree with or even challenge your husband’s ideas – A wife is to be a helper. Helping others doesn’t mean you agree with everything the person says. It means contending with and helping them think through situations, so that they act in a way that accord with godliness. So submitting to your husband doesn’t mean you can’t disagree with or even challenge his ideas.
Submitting to your husband doesn’t mean your husband can use and abuse you and you must take it willingly – If you are in an abusive relationship, the best thing you can do for yourself and your husband is to call the cops. It is never kind or loving to make it easy for someone to do wrong. When a wife doesn’t report abuse, a husband doesn’t have to own up to what they have done, nor do they have to deal with it, which means they ultimately won’t repent and change, which isn’t healthy for the family or society. As well as it undermines one of the purposes of a marriage relationship, which is sanctification.
Submitting to your husband doesn’t mean you can’t call them out on their sin – Again one of the purposes of marriage is sanctification. Overlooking sin isn’t healthy. Not only does it have the potential to destroy your marriage, but it also has the potential to destroy the person.

Submission isn’t compatible with any of the above. It can’t be because a husband is supposed to lead like Christ.

Instead, a wife submitting to her husband means:

She willingly accepts her God-given role as her husband’s helper.
She willingly allows him to lead and guide her.
She willingly accepts his Christ directed decisions.

A wife’s submission is modeled after Christ’s submission

We know the above is what it means for a wife to submit to her husband because that is how Jesus submitted to the Father. Even though Jesus is co-equal with the Father, being God Himself, He willingly accepted His position as the Son, submitting to His Father. In doing so:

He accepted His role as Christ — The One who died for the sins of mankind.
He willingly allowed the Father to lead and guide Him, even to the cross.
He willingly accepted the Father’s will — Allowing His decisions to be final.

A wife’s submission to her husband, then, is modeled after Jesus’ submission to the Father, which tells us Jesus isn’t asking us to do anything He wouldn’t or didn’t do Himself.

Why are wives supposed to submit to their husbands?

When I was in high school, I, probably like many of you, had to take an Algebra class. Thinking back to that time, I remember asking, on more than one occasion, why I needed to take that class. I asked because I couldn’t see an everyday application for algebra. (If I am honest, even now I don’t have an answer to that question, but that doesn’t mean you don’t or won’t have an answer, so you probably need to learn it.) Since I couldn’t understand why I needed Algebra, I didn’t fully apply myself to learning it.

I tell that story to make the point that knowing the “why” for what we are to do is important. It is often the difference between us doing or not doing something. Why, then, are wives called to submit to their husbands? Is it just another way for women to be oppressed by men, or does it actually provide value? I don’t believe it is a way for men to keep their thumb on women. Instead, I believe God commanded submission because it is what makes for a healthy and productive family environment.

From the business world, we know that more than likely if two people try to run a corporation, fights and stalemates will hinder the company from running well. As a result, the stock price will drop, employees will lose their jobs, and consumers won’t enjoy their product.

You can apply that same logic to the family. In order for a family to run well, one person, not multiple persons, need to be the head. One person should be responsible for making the final decision, breaking the tie or stalemate when there is one. God has divinely determined the husband is to be that person. He is responsible for making the final decision. His wife is supposed to submit or defer to his decision, so long as he isn’t leading his family into sin.

A family works best when a husband lovingly leads his wife, and a wife joyfully submits to her husband.

All this tells us a wife should submit to her husband, so that her family would be healthy and productive at accomplishing it’s God-given task, which is to honor Christ; build each other up in Lord, sanctifying one another; and then, when you have kids, training your children in the way of the Lord.

A husband can make submission easier

Even though a wife is commanded to submit out of obedience to Christ, her husband can make her submission, and subsequent obedience to Christ, easier by having a loving, caring, and sacrificial approach to his wife’s well-being. When the man puts forth the effort and operates in the way God calls him to operate, he makes submission a joy, not a chore for his wife.

Question for Reflection

Do you agree or disagree with the biblical idea of submission?

Resource

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How to Make Your Marriage Work

On December 3, 2015 By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, Family, QuotesLeave a comment

One of William Blake’s “Songs of Experience” shows in the most striking way that there are two ways to conduct a romantic relationship.

Love seeketh not itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care,
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a heaven in hell’s despair.

Love seeketh only self to please,
To bind another to its delight,
Joys in another’s loss of ease,
And builds a hell in heaven’s despite.
(from “The Clod and the Pebble”)

It is possible to feel you are “madly in love” with someone when it is really just an attraction to someone who can meet your needs and address the insecurities and doubts you have about yourself. In that kind of relationship, you will demand and control rather than serve and give.

Turn to the Ultimate Lover of Your Soul

The only way to avoid sacrificing your partner’s joy and freedom on the altar of your need is to turn to the ultimate lover of your soul. He voluntarily sacrificed himself on the cross, taking what you deserved for your sins against God and others. On the cross, he was forsaken and experienced the lostness of hell, but he did it all for us. Because of the loving sacrifice of the Son, you can know the heaven of the Father’s love through the work of the Spirit. Jesus truly “built a heaven in hell’s despair.” And fortified with the love of God in your soul, you likewise can now give yourself in loving service to your spouse.

Question for Reflection

How are you conducting a romantic relationship? Are you seeking the other’s good or your own?

Resources

Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage, 75-76

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Should We Redefine Quality Time in the Internet Age?

On September 9, 2015September 9, 2015 By Dr. Casey LewisIn Family, Practical2 Comments

I recently came across an old article I had saved that appeared in the New York Times back in 2011. The article is entitled Quality Time, Redefined. It was written by Alex Williams. You can read it here. In his article, Williams argues computers, Kindles, and iDevices, such as the iPhone, iPad, and iTouch, are creating a different form of quality time for families.

Quality Time?

Throughout the article, Williams provides anecdotal evidence from families and couples, who believe these devices have given them more opportunity for quality time, even though they are simultaneously connected to “parallel worlds” through their iDevices. He tells of a family who spends their nights reading, watching shows on iTunes, doing homework, and playing video games all at the same time, in the same room, on each of their individual devices, while interacting with one another about the content they are digesting.

One mom says, “An evening like that can bring more closeness than a night spent huddling over a board game back in the days of analog.”

Williams agrees, and he believes this and other accounts serve as evidence that “technology is bringing the family together, not pulling it apart.” He believes families are pulled together because the “proliferation of devices and media options make it easier for family members to pursue their interests online while seated in the same room.”

But does spending time doing your own thing, submerged in your own world, really count as quality time?

Not in my opinion. Sure, these families are in the same room, and they may even be interacting, but they are not building meaningful relationships with one another. They are, instead, projecting their digital world onto each other through momentary blips of conversation, which doesn’t serve to build deep relationships.

Relationship are built by interacting with one another in a meaningful way. In this article, you don’t hear of anyone talking about their day, the struggles they are having at work or school. Parents are not walking their children through Scripture, nor are they teaching, or even modeling a Christian worldview. Husbands are not washing their wives in the Word, and no one is practicing or learning self-sacrifice. Instead, they are celebrating Mario Kart victories, and sharing an occasional laugh at the latest Facebook video.

These families have not found a new way to experience quality time together. They have, instead, found a new way to experience “Me Time”, while making themselves feel as if they are experiencing family time.

Quality Time Involves

Quality time involves members of the family actually talking to and interacting with one another on a deeper level. Rather than treat the iPad as if it is a pacifier for teenagers, parents need to spend time talking with and drawing their kids out, and couples should be doing the same. A night on the couch indulging in Facebook, Twitter, and Hulu does not build long and lasting relationships. Nor does it allow parents to teach their children the ways of the Lord.

Families need to take time to unplug and disengage from their computers long enough to actually sit and talk with one another. Rather than “veg out” in front of the latest iDevice, parents should be opening the Scriptures with their children and teaching them what the Word of the Lord says. They should be modeling prayer and true Christian fellowship for their children. As well as parents should be spending time discussing the latest social trends, in order to help their children, teenagers in particular, develop a Christian worldview. Doing these things constitutes quality time.

Conclusion

So while the latest technologies are allowing families to spend more time in the same room together, it does not mean they are spending quality time together. Quality time is not interacting while having screen time. Instead, quality time is time together engaged in real and meaningful activity and conversation, which is uninterrupted and unencumbered by our iDevices.

Question for Reflection

What do you regard as quality time?

Authority Isn’t A Bad Thing

On August 21, 2015August 24, 2015 By Dr. Casey LewisIn Family, Leadership, PracticalLeave a comment

Authority. The first thing most people do when they hear the word is cringe or prepare to reject it at all costs.

Rejecting authority is our natural reaction. It has been ingrained in us since the beginning. Our first parent’s Adam and Eve rejected God’s authority for their own, leading us to do the same ever since. So it is only natural we buck at the idea of authority.

Everyone is Under Authority

While that is our natural reaction, God tells us everyone is under authority.

But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God (1 Cor. 11:3).

God’s authority structure is arranged so that:

The head of every man is Jesus Christ.
The head of every wife is her husband.
The head of Jesus Christ is God.

An Objection

Immediately, upon reflecting on this list, some, especially those in the feminist movement, look at this structure and say, “God thinks woman are less valuable than men because they are subjected to them.” But that is not true. God’s structure isn’t based on worth, it’s based on roles.

Tax season ended several months ago. I don’t know about you but that is one of two seasons I don’t look forward to — summer in Texas being the other. But, as we all know, those are two seasons you can’t avoid, because they come back year after year.

When you finally sit down to fill out those dreaded tax forms, one question that appears on your form is: Are you the head of the household?

When the IRS asks that question, they don’t mean to imply that your children, or even your spouse, is of lesser value than you. They simple want to know the role you play in your family.

In a similar way, God’s authority structure is also based on the role we play in our family, which means men are not of greater value than women, they just play a different role. A role assigned by God, as the head of the family.

Digging Deeper Into the Structure

As we dig deeper into God’s ordained structure, we learn:

(1) Men must submit to Jesus

Men are not given absolute authority. Instead, men must act under Jesus’ directive because He is our head.

With Jesus as our head, we must allow Him to guide us, to lead us. As well as we must exercise our role of authority as Jesus would.

A good example of how Jesus exercises His authority is found in Ephesians 5:25-30

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.” (Eph 5:25–30)

Ephesians 5 teaches men several things about leadership – how we are supposed to lead and what our role as the head of the family looks like.

According to Ephesians 5, men are to love, sacrifice for, provide for, care for, and protect their families, their wives. We aren’t to dominate them with a heavy hand. Nor are we to abuse, or use them. Instead, we are to love them as Jesus loves the church, giving of ourselves for them. We are to do everything in our power to care for them, protect them, and provide for them. We should also nourish them with the Word of God, leading them spiritually.

We should do all this, while at the same time allowing Jesus to lead us. He should continually be our example of headship, as well as our leader.

(2) Wives must submit to their husbands

I am fully aware that this is a controversial statement, especially in this day and age. But we are going to tackle it anyways.

What does it mean for a wife to submit to her husband?

Let me start with what it doesn’t mean, because I think that will clear up some misunderstanding.

It doesn’t mean you are to be dominated by your husband.
It doesn’t mean you can’t disagree with or even challenge your husbands ideas.
It doesn’t mean your husband can use and abuse you and you must take it willingly.
It doesn’t mean you can’t call your husband out on his sin.
It can’t mean any of those things because a husband is supposed to lead like Jesus.

Instead, what it means for a wife to submit to her husband is that:

She willingly accepts her God give role as her husband’s helper.
She willingly allows him to lovingly lead her, as Jesus is leading him.
She willingly accepts his decisions, as he seeks to do what is best for his family both physically and spiritually.

We know this is what it means for a wife to submit to her husband because her submission is based on Jesus’ submission to His father.

A wife’s submission is modeled by Jesus

Even though Jesus is equal with the Father and God Himself, He willingly accepted His position as the Son, submitting to His Father. In doing so:

He accepted His role as Christ — the One who died for the sins of mankind.
He willingly allowed the Father to lead and guide Him, even to the cross.
He willingly accepted the Father’s will, allowing His decisions to be final.

Just as a husband is to be led by Jesus as he leads his family, a wife is to be led by Jesus as she submits to her husband. We are to live in obedience to the roles we are given in God’s authority structure.

Submission As A Reflection of the Gospel & God’s Wisdom

When both husband and wife submit according to God’s good design, two things happen.

(1) We Reflect the Gospel – by sacrificing our will for God’s will, just like Jesus sacrificed His will and His self for us.

(2) We Reflect God’s Wisdom – by showing the world that things go well when we function within our roles.

Before I accepted my first full-time pastorate, I worked for a staffing and recruiting company based out of Atlanta.

Relatively early in my tenure, I had the opportunity to move to Dallas and help open the companies first satellite office. When we moved, the owners did something I would never do. They didn’t appoint a manager for the office. Their thought was that a leader would naturally rise to the top that others in the office would follow. When that happened, they would promote that person to office manager.

In theory, that sounds good. In reality, it didn’t work. The result was an unproductive work environment that kept the office from thriving.

No one knew who “really” was in charge, who they were supposed to take orders from, or even their own role. The result was chaos, conflict, and an office that didn’t run as a well oiled machine.

Likewise, there is chaos and conflict in the family, when individual family members operate outside their God given roles. On the other hand, when we function within our God given roles, things run smoothly.

When we really think hard about it, we realize authority isn’t such a bad thing, it is instead a good thing that shouldn’t be despised, cringed at, or rejected. It’s something that should be embraced as a means of grace by which God provides for His people.

Question for Reflection

Do you think of God’s authority as a means of grace?

Resources

Post adapted from my recent sermon God’s Authority Structure, which can be listened to in its entirety here.

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The Christian and the Same Sex Marriage Decision

On July 8, 2015July 29, 2015 By Dr. Casey LewisIn Family, Practical2 Comments

While I had a feeling the courts would rule for same sex marriage, I was still shocked when I read the headlines. I guess I had hoped they would consider how polarizing Roe vs. Wade has been and do something different. Something like put the decision to a vote by the people, instead of deciding for us. But that is not what happened. Instead nine justices decided for the American people that same sex marriage should be a reality in all 50 States.

If many of you are like me, you were probably shocked as well. I am sure other emotions may have been and still are running through your veins. Emotions like: Anger, dismay, hopelessness, sadness, even fear — fear of what is to come. Fear for our children and the world in which they will grow up.

As I have talked to many of my friends, read my Facebook and Twitter feeds, and thought and prayed myself, one question has consistently come up: How should Christians Respond?

As I have thought, prayed, and searched Scripture, the Lord has given me several ways we should respond.

(1) We Must Respond In Love, Not with Anger, Hate, or Violence

Searching Scripture, the Lord led me to 1 John 3. There John says in verse 11 and 15,

“For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another…Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” (1 Jn 3:11–15)

As Christians we must heed these words and respond in love. We aren’t to hate. We aren’t to turn to anger or even violence. We as Christians are to love. We are to show care, compassion, grace, and mercy to the gay community and those who support them.

That doesn’t mean we condone their activity, back down, or roll over and let others do what they want to us. We must stand our ground. We must fight for our rights. We must reject the decision handed down, but we have to do it in love.

(2) We Must Respond by Trusting in the Lord

While the Supreme Court decision didn’t go the way we wanted. While our country is slipping further and further from the original intent of our founding fathers — that we be “One Nation Under God.” Even though our Religious Freedom may be slipping away. We must still trust in the Lord.

We must trust in Him because He is sovereign. Psalms 47:8 says,

“God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne.” (Ps 47:8)

God is the one reigning. He is the one ruling. That was true 1,000 years ago, 100 years ago, last month, last week, 1 day ago, today, and for all eternity, God is reigning and ruling. There is no authority greater than Him.

Consider what Paul says starting in Colossians 1:16 about Christ,

“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Col 1:16-17)

Did you catch that? All things were created by Jesus. Thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities were all created by Him. He is the authority above all authorities. There is no greater authority than Him.

Along with there being no greater authority, we know that every authority is ruling because the Lord appointed them.

Romans 13:1 says,

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” (Rom. 13:1).

So what happened this last week was no mystery to God. It didn’t slip through the cracks. The Lord allowed those nine justices to sit on the Supreme Court, knowing that this last Friday, five of them would publish the majority opinion in favor of Same-Sex marriage.

Since the Lord is Sovereign, knows all things, He is who He is — all powerful, just, merciful, gracious, loving, kind, etc. — we must continue to place our trust in Him.

We may not always understand the way the Lord works. Why He allows certain things to happen, but one thing we do know is that the Lord is sovereign, His plan is perfect, so we must continue to place our trust in Him.

(3) We Must Respond By Preaching the Gospel

As the Supreme Court decision was handed down, those for Same-Sex marriage were exuberant. You could hear their cheers in videos, their excitement was evident in the media, and on social media. They were excited because they believe this win will satisfy them and give them something they long for — peace. But that is not true. Nothing in the world can give us peace. This world is ruled by the domain darkness, and it provides no lasting hope, satisfaction, or peace. Only Jesus provides peace.

In Colossians 1:19 and 20, Paul writes,

“For in him [speaking of Jesus] the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth on in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Col 1:19-20)

Only through Jesus can we find true peace. That’s because the peace our heart longs for is not the peace of social or civic justice, but the peace between man and God. Deep down inside we know we are sinners, who will answer to God one day. Try as we might to rid ourselves of that reality, it is still there. That is why we fight for peace on this earth. It is the natural longing of every human. In our effort, we may experience temporary peace, but we will never experience peace with God unless we trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Unless we see ourselves as sinners who have sinned against a perfect and holy God, rejecting Him as our Creator and Ruler for our own rule. Unless we realize that, and turn to Jesus as our Savior, believing He paid the penalty for our sins on the cross, we will never experience the peace for which we long.

So as Christians, one way we can respond in love is by preaching the gospel, sharing it with the lost world, because it is only through the gospel that they will experience peace.

(4) We Must Respond By Preparing for Persecution

In his gospel, John, quoting Jesus, says in chapter 15, starting in verse 20,

“Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.” (John 15:20-21)

According to Jesus, His disciples must prepare for persecution. We must prepare as well because as we shine the light of the gospel into the world, the world will respond in one of two ways: They will either accept it, or they will reject it.

Those who reject the gospel may not just reject its message, but they may seek to silence us through persecution. This is going to be especially true as Christians take a stand on God’s Word.

Same-sex marriage is a polarizing topic in our country because you are either for it or against it. As we take a stand on the truth of God’s Word, we will be called things like bigot or hater. We will probably be excluded from certain activities and benefits. Our businesses or jobs may even be in jeopardy. The culture will try to silence us. (We have already seen those things happen in certain parts of this country.) Our freedom to exercise our religion will continue to be strangled. So as a church, we must prepare for persecution.

We must prepare by:

Banding together as a community of believers who are committed to praying for, encouraging and strengthening one another. If there is ever a time we need to reconcile with one another and live in true biblical community, now is the time.
Reading God’s Word to strengthen our knowledge of and trust in God.
Continuing political action to fight for our right to exercise our religion.
Supporting those who are fighting for our rights already. People like Russell Moore who is the President of the ERLC of the Southern Baptist Convention.

So as a church, we must prepare for persecution.

(5) We Must Respond By Praying for Our Leaders

Scathing rebukes in the media, violence, and hatred will not change the hearts of those leading this country. The only thing that will change their heart is God and His gospel. As Christians we must pray for them.

Paul in 1 Timothy 2, starting in verse 1 says,

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” (1 Tim. 2:1-6)

So we must pray. We must pray because the Lord commands us to pray. We must pray because prayer is the only thing that will change things. We must pray because the Lord desires all people to be saved and the only way they will be saved is through Jesus.

I have been dialoguing with a guy recently who is all about Christians being political. He is all about it because he believes it is how things will change.

I am not against political action, certainly Christians need a voice in politics. However, I also know that nothing is going to happen politically if people’s hearts stay the way they are — dark and without the gospel.

So we must pray because the only way anything will change in our country, is if people’s hearts are changed.

Question for Reflection

How else should the Christian respond to the same-sex marriage decision?

Resources

Post developed from my sermon: The Christian and the Same Sex Marriage Decision. Listen to the full audio here.

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6 Practical Ways Fathers Can Man Up

On June 22, 2015July 29, 2015 By Dr. Casey LewisIn Family, Leadership, Practical3 Comments

An epidemic of epic proportions is occurring right before our eyes. An epidemic we have the power to do something about.

What’s happening?

Fathers are not only abandoning their families – 17.4 million children grow up in fatherless homes – they are also abandoning their God-given responsibility as the spiritual leader in their homes. As a result, millions of boys are growing up unprepared to lead their families.

What we need, then, is for fathers to man up and lead their families. But how? How can we lead our families.

6 Practical Ways Fathers Can Man Up

(1) When at home, be at home

After a long days work, it is easy to retire to the work bench, study, den, or lose yourself in social media or the TV, but we have to resist that temptation. We have to engage our children in some meaningful way when we are home. We have to actually be at home, when we are home.

(2) Eat dinner together

When I say eat dinner together, I don’t mean for us to sit in the living room watching TV together with dinner plates in hand. When we do that, we might be eating dinner at the same time and in the same room, but we aren’t eating together.

No, what I am talking about is actually turning off the TV, setting our phones aside, and sitting around the dinner table together talking with one another.

For those of you with teenagers, this might be the only time you have their undivided attention. It might be the only time you have to build into them. Don’t waste that opportunity because your favorite TV show is on.

Watching TV together does not have the same impact as talking together.

(3) Read the Bible together

I know what you are thinking, we don’t have the time for that. How am I ever going to get everyone in my family together at the same time? If that is you, you might need to cut some activities out of your schedule, so you will have the time. What’s more important: That your child participate in yet another extra-curricular activity, or you read God’s Word together?

In all reality, you may not even need to cut your schedule because I am not talking about an extensive hour long devotional every night. I am instead talking about devoting 5-10 minutes to reading the Word and praying together.

5-10 minutes is not a lot of time, and it is something we can all do. Just take the time you spend scrolling through your Facebook feed and watching cat videos, and devote it to your family.

While 5-10 minutes is not a lot of time, it does take discipline. It does take a little planning and motivation. It does take putting down the remote, turning off the game, and setting your phone or tablet aside for a few minutes.

If you want to know the secret to accomplishing a family devotional each day, make it apart of your routine. It has worked for our family. Reading God’s Word as a family happens every night after we brush our son’s teeth and before we put him to bed. Since it is apart of our routine, we do it. If we don’t do it, it feels like something is missing.

Surely, there is some place you can add a 5 minute devotional to your daily routine.

(4) Play together

Carving out fun time is important because it’s one way to build a relationship with your kids. Relationships are key if we are going to lead our children.

Don’t think play time is all fun and games. Even during play time, questions and opportunities to talk about God come up. It may only be for a minute or two while resting, but those couple of minutes over the years add up. Who knows, maybe that conversation will be replayed over and over in your child’s mind for the next couple of days.

(5) Memorize Scripture together

Not too long ago my Sunday School teacher challenged the class to memorize Scripture together as a family. What a novel idea!

Memorizing Scripture together not only motivates the parents to hide God’s Word in their heart, but it also motivates the child to do the same. As well as it’s another way to stimulate conversation around God’s Word.

(6) Don’t quit ministering

That’s true even after your kids have left home. Things are going to look different, but keep at it. Share with them what you are learning in God’s Word. Send them a blog post or sermon you liked. Give them a book. Tell them you are praying for them. Encourage them to train their kids. Whatever it may be, keep at it. Don’t stop ministering!

Challenge

I can’t stress how important it is for our society and churches that fathers lead their families in a biblical way. If we want to turn our country around, fathers have to train their children. If we want to raise up another generation of leaders in the church, fathers have to train their children. If we want to kill the current epidemic happening in our country, fathers have to train their children.

Fathers, it’s time we man up! It’s time we take God’s Word seriously. It’s time we be involved in our kids lives, training them, instructing them, and teaching them to be future spiritual leaders.