“And to the woman He said . . . your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”   ~Genesis 3:16

God created this order of authority

Just as the woman's desire shall be for her husband, in line with this the church is depicted as the the woman and Christ as the husband, and He (Jesus) shall rule over her (the church). This human order exists for the very same purpose—for guidance and protection, leadership and love!

Women were created for very specific and important roles. Our generation is so busy trying to prove that women can do everything men can do, women are losing the unique qualities that set us apart. The God-given femininity and unique way our Creator designed us. Women weren't created to do everything a man can do; they were created to do everything a man can't do. The lioness does not try to be the lion—she embraces her role as the lioness. She is powerful, strong, and nurturing. She does not mistake her meekness for weakness.

God also created man for very specific roles as well—first and foremost He ordained the husband to be the head of the house and the spiritual leader of the family. Husbands need to take this responsibility much more seriously. They are ordained by God to be the spiritual head of the family—to guide their families to the truth of the holy word of God. Godly fathers need to put this responsibility above every other activity and desire. The chief job of a father is to teach his kids biblical wisdom at all times.

​“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”   ~Proverbs 22:6

​If a man is filled with the Holy Spirit of God, he will not only desire to lead his family to the Lord, he will be empowered by God to do so. Praying together at mealtime is a great way to help your family come together spiritually, and doing so from the day children are born.

However, if you yourself have recently come to Jesus and are just now learning how to become the spiritual leader of your family, you can start now. Just tell your wife and your children that you have decided that you will be thanking God at mealtime prior to eating, and then pray a short prayer, out loud, to ask God to bless the food to nourish your bodies. Just this simple act of prayer will have a tremendous influence on the entire family. When it comes to a child’s character, training seems to be an even bigger factor than heredity.

Even those that are born into the faith often times neglect this most important responsibility to teach our children how to pray. It can be tempting to assume that children will learn in church to pray and read the Bible. But the truth is, God has given parents the job of training their sons and daughters in spiritual matters.

​“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”   ~Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Not only does God tell men to be the head of the family, He tells them to have pity on his children, to have compassion toward them at all times, no matter what the situation might be. When we show mercy and pity to others, God extends His mercy and pity towards us, towards those who trust and love Him.

​“As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.”   ~Psalm 103:13

The Lord also warns us not to ridicule or demean our children for any reason. The emotional damage that’s caused by this is often so deep that the hurt never goes away. A father must be a strong leader but at the same time he must always build his child up rather then putting him down.  The following verse is very clear on this issue.

​“And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord."   ~Ephesians 6:4

As well as building his children up, a father must also correct and discipline them as well. If a child deliberately disobeys, he must learn that there is always a consequence; how else can a child learn the importance of obedience. If he doesn’t become willing to obey his earthly father, how will he ever be able to obey his heavenly father?

​“He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.”   ~Proverbs 13:24

We, as parents, must understand the magnitude of teaching our children to love and obey their Creator. We must help them to understand that there is one, and one way only to have the opportunity to live together eternally, and that is to accept what Jesus did on the cross for our redemption.

God has offered every single human being His mercy and love through the forgiveness of our sins, past, present, and future. God loves us so much He was willing to send His only Son to die a horrible death to forgive us. He has given us the free will to accept this gift of love by honoring Him in all that we do, including the way in which we raise our children.

​“Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”   ~Exodus 34:7

It is extremely important that we fully understand what this verse is saying. On the surface it seems that God is unfair, passing the sins of the father’s onto their children. . . and even onto their grandchildren! But at a closer look, we see a condition to this curse, “by no means clearing the guilty” . . . so what exactly does this mean? Letting the Bible explain itself, we can read an explanation of this condition in yet another verse;

​”You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me”   ~Exodus 20:5

So, it seems that the guilty are defined as those who hate God! We know that we have all sinned, the Bible clearly tells us this fact. So it isn’t referring to anyone that's guilty of sin, because that’s everyone. If we are all guilty, what is the differentiating factor? The answer is plain and simple, it's the cleansing power of  Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins! All we have to do in order to be in the “forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” group, is accept Jesus as our Savior! Those that “hate God” do not accept Jesus' offer of salvation.

​“In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge."   ~Proverbs 14:26

To fear the Lord is to hate evil, which is to love God! If we want our children to have God’s protection over them, we must love God with our whole heart and stay in continual communication with our only source of power and protection. Not only for ourselves but for our children as well, we must teach them to love Jesus.

​“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise: that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”   ~Ephesians 6:1-3

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