How can I be a Spiritual Leader at Home?
- First…..Go where you want to lead others. Children instinctively sense hypocrisy. If you want your children to grow closer to the Lord Jesus Christ, they must see you making the effort to grow closer to him. Decide now to be willing to grow, which means being willing to change.
- If you plan to lead your family closer to God, you must plan to lead your family closer to God (yes, you read that right). You must be deliberate. Growth in the Lord does not happen accidentally. Distractions abound! Decide what things you are going to do in order to be lead your family closer to God, set specific times to do those things and then follow your plan. Either you will dominate the busyness of life or the busyness of life will dominate you and your family.
- Keep it simple. Even though leading your family to grow in the Lord is THE most important responsibility for the head of a family, it is not rocket science. Here are some examples of simple, yet profoundly impacting things you can do:
- Behave and speak like one who honors God (this is a “no-brainer”)
- Make attending the worship assemblies and Bible classes of Jesus’ church your family’s top priority (another “no-brainer”)
- Read scripture together at home and talk about what you read
- Pray together and let family members suggest things to pray for or lead the prayer
- Find Biblical ways to serve others, like taking groceries to someone who needs them, mowing a yard for an elderly person, taking turns with your children, taking them on hospital visits or simply participate joyfully as a family in church activities. Use your imagination.
- Look for daily opportunities to talk about God with your family and applying his word
- Expect resistance, conflict and criticism, especially to any changes in family habits you need to make. When conflict comes, lead your family through it! Of course you must be reasonable, but habitually allowing the things of God to be put on a “back-burner” in favor of worldly pursuits will have the opposite result.
- Follow through. Solomon wrote that the end of a thing is better than the beginning (Ecclesiastes 7:8), teaching us to stick with it to the end so that we get the results we wanted from the beginning. Even if they do not seem to appreciate it, your family needs you to lead, and that takes grit. Fight the good fight! Finish the race! Keep the faith!