Man Of The House
“But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.” – 1 Timothy 6:11
Growing up, I always wanted to be the best. I wanted to be the point guard who led his team to victory. I wanted to be the person who hit the game winning shot with the buzzer going off. I wanted to hit the game winning grand slam. But, as I go through life, I understand that that will never happen for me. Maybe not in a sport aspect, but in a different way. My desires I had when I was 12 are no longer the same desires I have now. God has taken me from point A to point B. He has changed my heart. Now, I desire to be the loving husband and loving father to my wife and children.
God has blessed me with a youth group and youth leaders that I would give my life for. I would do anything for them. We are not perfect. I am far from perfection, but we still love the same God and work out our differences. We pray through things and we work through matters together. I am truly blessed by them, but a few months ago, God made my biggest dream into a reality. I became a father.
I want to stand up for my family. I want to be the one who goes to the plate for my family with 2 outs, with the bases loaded, and we are losing by 3 runs. I want to be the man who my kids look to for spiritual advice. I want to be the dad who cares for my kids and puts my family before the church.
“Well, Stewart. I have walked this life and that’s impossible. You can’t put your family before the church. Plus, you’re just 24 years old and you haven’t walked the life I have walked.” You’re right. I haven’t. But, I want to be the man who leads my family in family devotions to where I create an atmosphere of God to where my kids want to talk about God…not because they have to, but because they want to. I want to set an example to where they want to go to church and learn about God. I want to love my wife so much to where my daughter won’t take anything less than what I give to her mother. I want my kids to have better. I want my youth group to have better. I want them to know that if they search for God, they will find Him!
There always comes a point in time in our lives where we have to basically “man up” and take hits. Some people don’t know what a dad is. Some people had their dad walk out on them and never looked back, so they have no idea what a godly man looks like in their lives, so when they finally see it, they get scared and run away because they get scared. I don’t know about you, reader, but I want God to use me in such a way to where it encourages those around me. Things happen…bad things happen all the time and guess what…you can’t stop it. But, what you can do is teach your family and those around you how to act during those times.
I will be the man of the house. I will not walk away when things get hard. When things get tough, I will get on my knees and pray. I will not be perfect and I will not get things right always, but I will humble myself before a God who does know everything. He is in control and therefore, I submit my family, my ministry, and my life to the One who knows all.
I have had many mistakes in my life. I, like Paul, am one of the worst. I am lazy at times…sometimes apathetic. I sometimes lose my temper at situations. I do not handle stress well. I don’t like to lose. I am a perfectionist. I want everything to go the right way with no distractions. I am human. I honor God for giving me these situations in my life to me what to do. If you are reading this and haven’t heard one thing I’ve said, remember this: there is a God who loves you and wants to teach you to be better! It’s time that we start teaching this next generation how to pray when things go wrong….how to react when things don’t go their way…how to be better…I am ready for God to correct me, mold me, and use me all for His glory!
I have decided today that as for me and my house, we WILL serve the Lord! How about you? Let’s do this together and win the lost!
