The Law Was Not Abolished

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B UILDING S TRONG F AMILIES

He is to know and apply the law of God in the home. A husband is responsible to represent his wife and his family in the culture. In His incarnation, Jesus was revealed not only as the perfect prophet of God and our great high priest but also as king of heaven and earth. He is once again our model for how we as husbands are to rule in our homes. For the sake of our wives, we must assume our true kingly role and lead with humble hearts and loving service for our wives. Here are some practical steps a husband can take as he seeks to take on the mantle of a servant-king: Examine your leadership. As a husband, have you abused the lead ership and authority God has entrusted to you? Do you have a ten dency to be a self-serving, domineering leader? Do you recognize that as a distortion of God’s design? Or have you instead been passive? Have you disengaged from the responsibility to lead your home and your family, leaving your wife to assume that position? Or have you taken on the responsibility of serving your wife with out accepting the responsibility to lead her? You’re in there somewhere. Almost certainly, you have a natural, sinful pattern that characterizes your leadership. When you slip up as a husband, you probably find yourself slipping in the same direction over and over again. God wants to steady your footing. It begins by agreeing with Him that you have a tendency to be either a domineer ing or a passive leader—or a husband who only serves without also leading. God is calling us as husbands to repent, to change. We are to lock our sites on the example of the perfect Leader, and then follow in His footsteps. As we grow in our understanding of our role as king, and as we begin to apply the truth of Scripture in our marriage, God will make us into the kind of leaders He has called us to become. Start leading! I’ve never forgotten a quote I read once, attributed to C. S. Lewis (although I’ve never been able to pinpoint the source). “The best way to acquire a virtue,” he is reported to have said, “is to act as if you already have it.” As husband and wife, it’s time to sit down and begin to discuss