Ephesians 5:25
25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her
25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her
Ephesians 6:4
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the
way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction
that comes from the Lord.
As we saw yesterday, domestic nutrition in the home lands
squarely on the shoulders of the husband and father. The apostle Paul used the
Greek term ektrepho to urge, first of all, every husband to
"nourish" his wife (Ephesians 5:25). Today, we'll examine Paul's
second use of the term.
All who are fathers are exhorted with the same
urgency to care for their children. Read the verse carefully, especially if
you're a dad:
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring
them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (6:4)
See those words, "bring them up"? That's ektrepho,
which, as we learned yesterday, could be rendered "rear them
tenderly." It's the idea of treating your children fondly and carefully,
deeply cherishing each one of them.
Much more could be said to husbands and fathers, but that's
enough for now. In fact, let's face it, men . . . we have found enough in these
few paragraphs to keep us busy for an awfully long time!
How easy for us to think of nutrition and/or nourishment as
something meant only for the health of our physical body. Yet, when you search
the New Testament, you find that it's also something very important for the
health of our family. And just to make sure we don't pass over it too quickly,
let me urge you—especially you who are husbands and fathers—to pause and
realize how valuable your partner is to you . . . and while you're at it, think
about how significant each one of your children is as well.
With Paul, I urge you to demonstrate your love to them. To
begin with, express your affection in words of genuine appreciation. And next,
spend some extra time with each this week, tenderly cultivating those
relationships. I suppose we could call this kind of meaningful and loving
nourishment "domestic nutrition."
Thought for today:
What do my offspring (children, products you’re cultivating, mentees, etc…)
look like?
No comments:
Post a Comment