Secrets of Manly Leadership Pt 2 (Loving and Changing) - Joseph Prince

To Love As Christ Loved

Ephesians 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.

We are to love our wives the way Jesus loved the church. And how did Jesus love the church? He “gave Himself”. The Bible doesn’t say, “For God so loved the world, He gave a box of candies.” He didn’t give you a bunch of flowers either! On the cross, Jesus gave Himself.

Ladies, don’t marry a guy just because he is rich and gives you gifts. He can give you presents without giving you his presence! Money doesn’t guarantee you happiness. Go, instead, for someone who is able to give himself for you. Go for someone with self-sacrificial love.

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her”. That is self-sacrificial love. Guys, your wife will not find it hard to submit to you when she knows that you love her self-sacrificially. Take Jesus as our example. It’s not hard to submit to Him when we know how much He loves us and that He has our best interests at heart.

 

Let God Do The Changing

Some husbands may say, “Pastor Prince, if I just love my wife, she’ll never see her faults, she’ll never change!”

You can’t change your wife. Your part is to love her and let God do the changing. Ladies, likewise, your part is to submit to your husband and let God change him.

Many times, we tell our spouses, “I want you to change and then I will love you.”

But God’s way is the opposite:

“Men, love first and then I will transform her. Ladies, submit first and then I will change him.”

 

 

Secrets of Manly Leadership Pt 2 (Loving and Changing) - Joseph Prince

Secrets Of Manly Leadership PT 1 - Joseph Prince

God has ordained the husband to be the head of the house, the leader in his family. How successful his marriage and family are rest on his leadership. In fact, God places the responsibility squarely on his shoulders!

Men, do you want to know how to be a good husband and leader in your family? Then look at what God’s Word says to husbands.

But first, understand this: Whatever God tells you to do, He is not saying that you must do it in your own strength, gritting your teeth! He will give you the strength when you rest in what His Son has done for you at the cross.

Notice how God’s instruction, “Husbands, love your wives,” in Ephesians 5, comes after Ephesians 1–4. Let me explain. Ephesians can be divided into three Ws. It begins with the wealth of the Christian—what you have in Christ. Then, you have the walk—the central part where it says, “Husbands, love your wives…Wives, submit…” Finally, you have warfare in Ephesians 6. Another way in which you can divide the book is like this: Sit–Walk–Stand.

Now, many Christians want to walk. They emphasize the behavior part of the Christian life and neglect the sitting. But the sitting or resting must come first.

When Jesus sat down at the Father’s right hand, it meant that everything He had done and provided for us had been accomplished. So we begin with sitting, not walking. But how well we walk out our Christian life on earth, depends on how well we sit. The more we rest in Christ and understand that everything is accomplished by Him, and not us, the more power we will receive to walk well.

If you apply this to your marriage, it means that how well you treat your wife depends on how well you rest in Christ. God is not saying, “You, by your energy, love your wife.” He is saying, “Rest in My Son and He will cause you to love your wife effortlessly.”

Secrets Of Manly Leadership PT 1 - Joseph Prince