Main Scriptures: John 6:1-11
More Scriptures: 1Thess.5:8, Col.3:15-17, 1Chro.16:34
One of the mistakes the husbandman makes is to have an ungrateful heart. And this is one attitude you and I must fight if we want to continue to enjoy the value of our sheep. And that is what the Bible passage in John chapter 6:1-11 wants to teach us.
And after these things Jesus went over the sea……..and a great multitude followed him because they was his miracles………and the Passover, a feast of the Jews was nigh……..When Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw the great company come unto him, he said unto Philip, whence shall we buy bread………Philip answered him ………bread is not sufficient for them……one of the disciples……..saith unto him there is a lad which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they among so many?……….Jesus said, make men sit down………and Jesus took the loaves and when he had given thanks, he distributed……….and when they were filled …….he said gather the fragments (Jn.6:1-12).
Now, what is the application of this lesson to you and I as heads and spiritual leaders of our sheepfold? The lesson there is that your wife and children may not be adequate, yet you must give God thanks for their lives. Your wife and children may not be perfect, yet you must give God thanks for giving them to you. Your wife and children may not have attained the level of expectations you have set for them yet give God thanks. Your wife may not have enough knowledge of how to satisfy your physical and emotional needs, yet you must learn to give God thanks at least for the little she may have done for you. In essence, you must be grateful to God and cultivate the “heartitude” of gratitude.
You must understand that it is when you give thanks to God even for those little efforts and output of your wife and children that you motivate them to do better and multiply their results for you. Rather than complain and grumble and murmur about your sheep, celebrate the little that they know or have done.
But how do I develop the heart of gratitude and remain a grateful shepherd? The first thing you must do is to recognize that your wife and children are gifts from God. You did not create them. And because they are creatures from God in your custody, you have a responsibility to nurture and keep them. Secondly, you must understand that because you don’t own them, but God does, you must give account of your stewardship to God. Thirdly, you must acknowledge that no one is perfect and that includes your wife and children. They may likely make mistakes, struggle with certain habits and attitudes or even be slow to learn. In all these inadequacies in your sheep, you have two things to do for them. Give God thanks and intercede (pray) for them (Gal.4:19).
God has good and glorious plans for you, your and children. Don’t allow ingratitude to ruin it for you. Be thankful for who your wife and children are, and also for what they are.
SPIRITUAL EXERCISE
- Father, in the name of Jesus, deliver me from a murmuring and complaining spirit.
- Father, in the Name of Jesus, help me to be thankful for my wife and children as a lifestyle.
- Father, in the Name of Jesus, help me to always see and dwell on the positive sides of my wife and children.
FAITH CONFESSION
I have the “heartitude” of gratitude to God for my wife and children because that is what makes me the good and godly husbandman in Jesus name. Amen.
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