| TEXT: 1Timothy 3:1-5
The high the position a
leader assumes, the more exposed he is to dangers.
The spiritual leader
especially is exposed to 3 main dangers in his/her ministry work:
1. TIME: The pressure of work
makes time very inadequate. He/She has a
lot of things, places and ministrations to make such that he needs God’s wisdom
to be able to do exactly what God wants him/her to do and to be able to fulfill
his/her ministry. He/She often works for
long hours, with irregular closing time.
Even, a circular leader faces similar time temptation. He/She has to attend to seminars,
assignments, meetings and day-today office and business related
activities. Without proper management of
time, he cannot achieve his goal both in business and family life. In the books of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 time is
mentioned 29 times. No doubt, time
management is essential to success in life and ministry even in business. 1
Tim. 3:2 you must be careful not to develop Messiah Complex. Ex. 18:13-18. You need to delegate responsibilities. Otherwise, you and your family may suffer for
it. 1 King 19:1-18.
2. TEMPERAMENT: This has to do
with the nature of the leader. Any
leader who fails to control his temperament may develop bad temper as a result
of time and work pressure. Prov. 22:24-25, pro. 14:17.
3. TEMPTER: The devil surely
is after the precious soul. He often tempts
leaders more with money, women and pride Matt. 4:1-11. The leader needs to work on these avenues
through which the enemy usually befalls mighty men.
There are negative result of success as we can see
in the life of Elijah called burn-out.
He became so confused as a result of this phenomenon. Samson fell by a woman while Demas fell
because of love for this present world symbolizing money and what money can
buy. Finally, the bible says, be angry
but sin not, let not sun go down with your wrath. Eph. 4:26. All these may result in neglect of self,
family, and God through sin of pride.
Eli was so busy; he could not communicate with his spouse or children 1
Sam. 2:22-25.
"Let he
who thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” 1 COR. 10:12.
DEVELOP
YOUR FAMILY BASE
Leaders must develop their
family base for the following reasons:
1. MANAGE – 1 Tim. 3:5 If any man does
not know how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God”.
First and foremost, you are the priest at home before
ministry. Gen. 18:19, 1 Tim. 3:4.
2. CARE – 1 Tim. 5:8 If anyone does
not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has
denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
The
leader must be a channel of blessing to his family first and foremost.
There
are 4 different kinds of homes/family characterized by expectations of
the
children and wife compared with support from the husband:
1. Apathetic family
2. Stressful family
3. Pampered family
4. Balanced family.
1. APATHETIC HOME
The children have low expectations, needs and low
support from the husband in form of care or commitment to the family’s needs as
well as children upbringing. The family
members are indifferent and uncaring.
2. STRESSFUL HOME
This is characterized by high expectation and low
support. The home becomes tensed up as
well as suicidal. The result is that
children in such homes become distressed, fearful and oppressed. They can result to running errand for
neighbours for food. Furthermore, it may
have negative effect on their mental faculty or reasoning.
3. PAMPERED HOME
Low expectation with high support. The children receive far more than they
need. They become petty and indulgent
with the result that they are spoilt.
There is overwhelming leaning on the part of the children to their
parents without whom they may find it difficult to find their feet or fend for
themselves.
4. BALANCED HOME
This home is characterized by high expectation and
high support. The children are confident
and affirmed. The result is that their
intelligence quotients become high. They
are blessed children with high moral value.
God’s will is the balanced
home. To build a balanced home
therefore, the biblical principles must be followed tenaciously.
EPHESIANS 5:21-6:4
Since we cannot expect
without supporting, and vice versa, it becomes imperative that spouses’
relationship should be reciprocal.
(a)
Husband: Love his wife vs. 25, 28, 33
Lead his family vs. 23.
(b)
Wife: Submit to her husband vs. 22, 24
Respect her husband vs. 33.
(c)
Both: To submit to God v. 21.
i. The greatest need of a woman is love from her husband while
that of a man from the wife is respect.
ii. Men need to understand their wife.
iii. Women love to give detail account. The woman also appreciates gifts no matter
how small it is, from her husband. 1 Pet. 3:7.
iv. Women are quite emotional being while men
are logical beings. It is important to
be patient with each other to be able to agree. Amos 3:3.
(d) Husband, wife
& children relationship Eph. 6:1-4
Children: To obey their parents vs. 1
To honour them vs. 2
Parents: Not to provoke their children to
wrath vs 4 (a)
They are suppose to nurture the children in God’s
way vs. 4 (b) Deut. 6:6-7.
e. SPOKEN WORD: Gen. 48:15-16,
Eph. 4:29, pro. 18:21
It is important that parents speak words of blessings into
the life of their children. Usually,
when a man is getting married to his wife, he shows care and love. It is imperative that such love be bestowed
on the wife always.
f. LAY HANDS: Parents should
always pray for their children. You can
lay hands on the children to bless them. Matt. 19:14-15.
g. SPECIAL FUTURE: God is not
only interested in the present of your family.
He is also interested in the future more so, future generations. As far as God is concerned trans-generational
blessings are for His people. Therefore,
Parents should be mindful of this fact.
And pray for their children’s children even now. II Tim. 1:5-6, Gen.
13:14 – 15, Gen. 49:28.
h. ACTIVE COMMITMENT to the
family. Husband and wife are supposed to
show much commitment to their marriage especially children in order to raise
successful children with godly character.
Success without a successor is a failure. If Abraham failed to bring up Isaac properly,
how can he explain that to God? The
ministry of Eli couldn’t continue after his death because of his children. Therefore, success in ministry or business
may be limited, impeded or destroyed through carelessness in family commitment.
It will yield eternal dividend if we give adequate
attention, love and care to our family.
Unity: Unity
in family brings blessings Isa.8:18, Gen. 18:19 b, Matt. 19:4-6. Unity makes you fulfill God’s command of
monogamy. Terrible problems come when we
deviate from God’s word. Every Ishmael
will dent your Isaac while every Hagar will mock your Sarah. Therefore, cast out the bondwoman and her
child now, repent and follow God’s blessed word. Let us lay a good foundation for our children
and our generations yet unborn to build on.
God’s trans-generational blessings are yours. Amen.
Training: Train or disciple both your
wife and children. Even if she’s not
called, she’ll be able to effectively help you in ministry.
Self Control: Our Lord Jesus in His ministry on earth was
always with the disciples particularly John, Peter and James. This helped Him against temptations. He Himself was tempted in all areas, but
never fell Heb. 4:15. If Samson had gone
to Gaza with
somebody else, he would not fall Eccl. 4:9-10.
Dr Wole Gbogboade
Word of Salvation
Publication
P.O.Box 7572,
Ikeja (100001)
Nigeria
Tel.: +2348033250375,
+234-18940823.
Jesus loves you and so do I. JESUS IS THE ANSWER!!
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