Spiritual Leadership. What exactly is that?
If you’ve grown up in the church culture, you’re probably familiar with the idea of the husband being the “spiritual leader” in the family. But what does that really mean?
In the context of dating, we might say a guy is a great spiritual leader because he leads his girlfriend in prayer, or maybe even suggests they do a bible study together, or talk about spiritual things. But is that spiritual leadership?
Once a couple gets married, we may define “spiritual leadership” as a husband who wants to go to church, or suggests he and his wife join a small group with other married couples. Is that spiritual leadership?
Once a couple has children, perhaps the husband reads Bible stories to the kids at bedtime and tries to teach them lessons about Jesus. Is that spiritual leadership?
What if true spiritual leadership wasn’t measured by outward appearance or tangible actions at all? What if true spiritual leadership was marked by an innate belief that God’s Word, God’s Spirit, and God’s people were the most important elements to a rich and strong marriage, and out of that innate belief a man lived his life differently, viewed his marriage differently, and treated his wife and children differently?
In many ways, today’s Christian culture has deemed the Bible as an important book, but not one that has daily relevance or potential for daily impact on our lives. Yet, Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the word of God is living and active. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Not only does the Bible have a lot to say about marriage, it has even more to say about who God is and who we are in relation to Him – and that information, if we truly studied it and applied it would revolutionize our marriages. The more aligned we are to our Creator, the more fully we are being the man or woman God created us to be, the more rich, meaningful, and perhaps even easy our marriages will be.
The Bible is not a dead book. It is not old, outdated, nor inapplicable to our daily lives. Rather, it is vital to the health and wellness of our marriages.
Join us as we dive into the Biblical lens of marriage in this 4-part #BiblicalMarriage series.
All newlyweds face initial adjustments or difficulties in the early stages of their marriage, but the key is how we respond and learn from those difficulties for the next round of trials and adjustments life will bring.
Just as conflict is inevitable between two married sinners, external trials and hardships are also to be expected. It’s not a question of “if”, but “when”. So how do we respond to external trials that impact our marriages? How do we shift expectations and position ourselves to grow closer together through the trials rather than drift apart?
As most couples approach marriage, each partner holds unrealistic expectations and unknown expectations. Our unrealistic expectations stem from a lack of true understanding of what marriage really is, but our unknown expectations can be even trickier, leaving us frustrated and confused but not entirely sure why.