“Hold Down the Fort” by Kenneth & Victoria Jones
Hold Down the Fort
by Kenneth & Victoria Jones
1 Timothy 3:5 (NIV)
“If anyone does not know how to manage his own family how can he take care of God’s church.”
This may get real tight for many of us, but let’s just get real and discuss it for what it is.
As a husband and wife what parts do we play in the home? As men, we are in high position when it comes to our household. As the head, you are the glue that binds the home together. We must prioritize the things in our life so that our household doesn’t fall last in place to everything else. Wives, you are the keeper of your home. As the woman, Titus 2 and Proverbs 31 both tell us that we are to create the harmony in our homes. When something is in harmony, it is consistent, orderly, and on one accord. As the woman of the house, you are also the keeper of the heart. You are responsible for emotionally taking care of not just yourself, but your husband and children. You are responsible for setting the tone and environment of your home. This is what it means to be a keeper of your home.
However, for some strange reason, we as men tend to be more proficient in every other area except our households. At church, we may be the first to say yes to serving. At work, we are the first to take a stand and take on the assignment. Women, if you can’t say that your home is in full harmony, then you have no business taking care of anything else.
So what happens at home while we tend to everything and everybody else? Our wives are still asking us to take out the trash we were supposed to take out last week. How is it that we can be everything to everyone else, but be little to nothing to ourselves and our families? How is it that we can pray for others at church, but refuse to lift a prayer for our family and loved ones? How is it that we can strategize and plan the next move for our career, but we can’t cast vision for the future of our family? How is it that other people can request us to do anything and we do it with excellence, but meanwhile, we have still not taken care of that squeaky door hinge at our homes? Men, understand that this is not God’s will for your life! Women, how crazy would it be to go to church, serve, and juggle numerous ministries only to come home and have discord in your marriage and disobedience in your children all because you’ve learned to serve others but don’t know how to serve your household?
What to do now? Set the tone for your house by being the first to worship and pray. If it’s just you in the house, then do the same in preparation for your wife. Balance must first happen at home. Learn to maintain your household and take care of your first ministry and God will allow you to add things to your plate.
PRAYER STARTER
For Wives:
God show me if my home needs to be more in sync. I desire to become the Titus 2 woman that you created me to be. Help me to create harmony at home first so that I can effectively take care of the other assignments you give me.
For Husbands:
Lord help me remember that spiritual leadership must begin at home. Remind me to take care of home first. Reveal to me any priorities that I may have put on the back burner. Help me to not get so caught up in serving that I neglect my family.
The Balancing Act For Women and The Balancing Act For Men Book release was on November 12!
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