Main Scriptures: 1Tim.3:1-7
More Scriptures: Philps.4:8, Rom.12:21,
A leader must be……….hospitable (1Tim.3:1-3) MSG
As the shepherd over the sheep of God in your custody, it is important that you must be hospitable. Also, you must understand that being hospitable is a virtue and character of Jesus Christ, the perfect example of the good and godly husband. At every point in His leadership He was hospitable to those with Him and even those far from Him. That is the nature God wants you to possess and manifest to your wife and children and the people around you.
But what does it mean be a hospitable man, husband and father? It means that you are open-handed, warm-hearted, kind, generous, friendly and obliging to people, starting with your sheep. So, the questions you must ask yourself are this. Are you open-handed or stingy to your sheep with your resources? As the good and godly shepherd, are you kind or brutish to your sheep? Are you generous to your wife and children with what God has blessed you with or do you hold back and deny them? Can your wife and children talk to you like friends or you have become a terror that cannot be approached? Do you feel excited whenever the opportunity to help your sheep in any area as God enables you or you feel angry and unwilling? You must think on these things because being hospitable to your sheep has these results. ………true, honest, just, pure, lovely and it’s a good report (Philippians 4:8).
So, what should be your conduct and attitude toward your wife, children and others as the husbandman who wants to be the good and godly man, husband and father? You must be warm-hearted to them; be kind to them; be generous to them; be friendly to them; be willing to stoop very low to serve them by helping them with household chores, school work or any other areas where they need your assistance. You must understand that your sheep are not as bad as you think. They may have their struggles and fears. They may have disappointed you. They may have spoken words that really hurt your person. Whatever they may have done against you, always let the goodness of Jesus Christ in you overcome their wrongs. Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good (Rom.12:21). Another step you must take is to destroy pride from your life and be humble. The Scripture says that God hates the pride but giveth grace to the humble (Jas.4:6). When you are humble in heart, you do not consider your reputation when you serve your sheep. You love them passionately and are ready to help them. This means that you are not too big to do small tasks and not too small to do big tasks. That is the example the Good Shepherd laid for every husbandman. And as you become hospitable to your sheep, they become attracted to you and will be ready to follow you and your instructions.
SPIRITUAL EXERCISE
- Father, in the Name of Jesus, I ask You to forgive me for being unfriendly, tightfisted and illmannered to my sheep.
- Father, in the Name of Jesus, I ask for Your mercy to prevail over my unfriendly and wicked acts toward my wife and children.
- Father, in the Name of Jesus, deliver me from pride and empower me with the Spirit of humility to serve my sheep faithfully.
FAITH CONFESSION I receive the Spirit of humility and by it I serve my wife and children, generously, kindly and friendly because that is what makes me the good and godly husband in Jesus Name. Amen
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