This post is apart of Gabrielle's preparing for the future series.
Men to be leaders both in the home and the community. The main problem in the world today is that many young men who are graduating from say college or high school are coming into the world not knowing how to be a real man, not knowing how to lead their family or provide for their wife or even show commitment in their marriage. This is because the fathers today were raised by fathers who didn't know what they were doing. 75 to 85% of kids from a Christian home will reject the faith after one year of college, because they were not given a foundation. Obviously both Gabrielle and I are stressing the issue of foundations unfortunately I won't be able to mix that in this post because that is a very important issue so they'll have to wait till next week.
All other occupations or jobs are meant to support the most important occupation, that is motherhood. Fathers are to be breadwinners, they're supposed to go out and provide for the mother who stays home and teaches her kids the ways of truth. Fathers then come home and lead the family in Bible studies and worships to help the mother in building the foundation for the children of the next generation to teach the next generation. But sadly today many mothers and fathers are sending their kids to the public school system which is teaching the exact opposite of the truth. Parents I cannot stress this enough, you need to know what your kids are learning, whether that being you stay up to midnight every night teaching your kids through their homework, showing them why it's wrong and what is right, or teach them in the home through the Bible which is our ultimate foundation for truth. Christ said, "I'm the way, the truth, and the life" when we realize that we become close minded, in the sense that now that we have the truth were not going to listen to any more falsehoods. In Psalms 11:3, "If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?". Adolf Hitler said, "the one who rocks the cradle is the one who rules the world." This meaning the one who raises the generation is the one is going to impact the generation for good or for bad. One excuse parents use to send their kids to public school is "oh my child will be the light in that dark place", the problem is this generation of teachers is shoving down truth or as Roman says they are "suppressing the truth in unrighteousness." Back to the subject hand, what does the Bible teach men to do?
There are three stages in a man's life, single, married, married with kids. Each one of the stages is just as important as the next one but each carrying totally different responsibilities. The first one we will examine is singleness.
Very rarely is this first stage ever called the gift of singleness, but I assure you that is very much so what this is. Do not mistake mistake for what I'm saying as an excuse to be single, but rather an encouragement to follow through with your job with this gift of singleness. There's no doubt that God calls us to certain jobs and duties throughout our lifetime. Usually when a person a single, he or she is young , has lots of time, and plenty of energy. This of course is not always the case, the apostle Paul was single, or even better unmarried, but he went out and reach multiple countries with the word of God, and wrote most of the New Testament. So when we look at the apostle Paul he obviously did not waste his singleness he went out and made difference for the Kindom. If you are a single man(or woman), get out there and use your youth to make a difference. 1 Tim 4:12,"Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe."
The second one of course is married. And compared to singleness marriage has its own new set of responsibilities including leading your wife( not the other way around) and building off each other in the Faith. The apostle Peter was married hence the verse Matt. 8:14. We don't see the apostle Peter doing as much as the apostle Paul(books and traveling) did but he was one of Jesus' 12 disciples and sat under Jesus' teaching, one thing that Paul didn't have the chance to do. I don't have much experience in this stage or the next(I'm 15) but I do know that marriage is supposed to be an example of how Christ loves the church.
Third one is married with kids. "Children are blessing from the Lord" Psalms 127:3, Children are like arrows in the hands of the mighty warrior, and the parents jobs are to train and sharpen these arrows into the world's next-generation of Christians. During this stage the man's priorities are less on himself, and more on teaching his children and setting an example. In this stage the father should be demonstrating for his sons how men should treat a woman and other men, he should be teaching his other children, both sons and daughters, how to study God's word and reach the world with the gospel, and preparing them for the stage of singleness. The best way for a father to set an example in these areas is to hold his child's hand and demonstrate by just doing it.
In short, men should be leaders in this generation, and examples to the next generation of men. Godly men need to set the bar high, then show young men how to reach for those expectations. How are you preparing yourself to impact the following generations?
Doing His Will,
Austin Ryan
