If a man know not how to rule - A church resembles a family. It is, indeed, larger, and there is a greater variety of dispositions in it than there is in a family. The minister of the gospel in a church is also less absolute than that of a father. Yet there is a striking resemblance. The church is made up of an assemblage of brothers and sisters. They are banded together for the same purposes, and have a common object to aim at. They have common feelings and common needs. They have sympathy, like a family, with each other in their distresses and afflictions. The government of the church - Board of Elders  also are designed to be "paternal." It should be felt that he who presides over it has the feelings of a father; that he loves all the members of the great family; that he has no prejudices, no partialities, no selfish aims to gratify.

Now, if a man cannot govern his own family well; if he is severe, partial, neglectful in teaching the God's Word, or tyrannical at home, how can he be expected to take charge of the more numerous "household of faith" church with proper views and feelings? 

Leading a family requires so much resolution, prudence, care, and thought. God has charged each man to preside over it, rule in it, provide for it, and see that everything is in its proper place, and done according to the will of God.

Even when your children leave the household it is still your responsibility to encourage them spiritually. 

Your Action Step's

1) Gaining a better understanding of what and who Jesus Christ is.

2) Help your family make a connection with God's Word.

3) Encourage your family member's to attend Sunday school, and Bible studies. 

There is always time to start. So lead by example, and patterns of spiritual laziness will change. The amount of freedom and opportunities are endless as the Devil lures us away from faithfully fulfilling our role as head of the household. He tempts us, and encourages us to wrestle with doubt, the mysteries of scripture and its applicability to the problems in own lives. Satan plays an active role in our thought process when it comes to attending Bible study, and is related to the holding us back in the maturity of our faith. 

God through His grace remains patient with us. The Christian life should be lived in "self-control, uprightness, and godliness." Again, the knowledge of the Word of God and the filling of the Holy Spirit is the key, not the legalistic teaching of many churches. Morality is not the issue, the controlling ministry of the Holy Spirit and the knowledge of Bible doctrine is the real issue.

The Christian life should be lived in the "great expectation of the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ." The knowledge of the Word of God and the filling of the Holy Spirit is the only way to obtain this attitude of "great expectation." and all of this is the product of grace.

So what are you waiting for?