"Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known" Deuteronomy 11:26-28. Keep in mind that the only way to obey the commandments of God is by the power of the Spirit of God by grace through faith. A father and a mother and the children must all be careful not to bring anything into the home that is wicked. This includes many things that appear, on the surface, to be good. There are friends that we cannot afford to have because bad friends ruin good morals. Even some things that are called religious are not good. Many youth groups, for instance, do not teach righteousness and holiness. These are dangerous places for parents to send their children. There are even some Churches that teach false doctrines or teach as doctrine the precepts of men that you do not want to bring your family into. "Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God, And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you" Leviticus 20:7, 8.

A father may be having trouble understanding how this can be since he has a child who is rebellious and throws tantrums, etc. Children do go through phases of life where they just seem to be overwhelmed or they want to control. These times call for wisdom on the part of the father. The fact that a father is walking in submission does not take away his responsibility to discipline his children or to lead his wife. If a father or husband is concerned with showing who is boss, he is not walking in the Spirit. Discipline must never be administered in anger or the father will impart the spirit of anger to his children. The father has the responsibility to lead his family into a rich and fulfilling relationship with Jesus Christ. God's will is the only will that matters. When there is disagreement, especially between the husband and his wife, it is time to seek God until everyone has the same leading. There may be times when the husband and father will have to say, "This is the way it is going to be." However, those times should be extremely rare. If they come up frequently, something is missing in the flow of the Holy Spirit in the home. God is not a God of confusion but of order. Everyone in the home should be seeing the same revelation of the will of God for the family. Perhaps the family alter, that daily time of devotion, Bible reading, testimony, song, and prayer, has become stale. Perhaps it is non-existent. The father must always be willing to admit that he may be wrong. Otherwise, how will the children learn humility?

Remember that you are dealing with the basic unit of the Church.  You are dealing with Christ manifested in His Body.  There is flesh there, but you are dealing with the Spirit.  We all need to discern and see the Body of Christ.  We see all the gifts, ministries, offices, and orders of the Church.  We also can discern and recognize the false.   When we see Him as He is, we become like Him.  He is a many-membered Body on Earth walking in submission the the Head in Heaven.

A husband listens to his wife. God gave her to him as a suitable helper. She is the correct helper for him. She will have insights that he does not have. A man who ignores those insights is a fool. He must live his life in service to her, even as she lives her life in service to him. A marriage is not a 50%-50% proposition. It can only be fulfilling when it is a 100%-100% proposition, each giving themselves for each other. That is also true for the entire Church. We are set into the Body of Christ to serve each other. We each are a ministry. The word ministry is equivalent to servant. The ministry in you is actually Christ in you. He is the only one Who can serve in this way. Remember that Jesus came not to be served but to serve.