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must learn to lead his wife by
exercising all facu lties of wisdom,
strength and personality. He
must, most of all, set an
example
for his wife and children to follow
if he expects them to gladly follow
him.
This automatic leadership oppor–
tunity is a part of a program the
great God had in mind when he
instituted the family relationship.
In leading the family, a man
should talk goals and plans over
with bis wife continually. He
should give her definite guide–
lines-letting her know in !ove and
in fairness what he expects of her
and how far ber responsibi lity for
certain decisions affecting tbe
home, the items of food and cloth–
ing, etc., extend. Then she will
know where she stands- and will
be able to cooperate and implement
her busband's decisions and wisbes.
All these matters should have been
discussed befare marriage, while
dating.
The couple s hould counsel
together-often with arms around
each other- about their future–
their plans, hopes and dreams.
Husbands should ask God for wis–
dom and vision and should plan
ahead as to the type of borne and
life that is their goal, the future
education and well-being of the
children, and the type of friends
the family should ·cultivate, the
type of movies they should see, tbe
books they should read, television
programs they should watch and
their ultimate goal-hopefully the
kingdom of God!
A husband and father who will
do this not only proves himself
more of a man-he actually
increases bis manhood, bis wisdom
and his abi lities to lead by this very
process of being the right kind of
husband!
Help and Prot ection
Returning to Ephesians 5, remem–
ber that Christ gave himself for the
Church- "That he might sanctify
and cleanse it with the washing of
water by the word, that he might
present it to himself a g lorious
church, not having spot, or wrinkle,
or any such thing; but that it
should be holy and without blem–
ish. So ought men to love their
wives as their own bodies. He that
26
loveth his wife loveth himself' '
(verses 26-28).
Every right-minded man certain–
ly desires to cherish and protect his
wife. She is his sweetheart, his
companion, the mother of his chil–
dren. He ought to realize that she is
part of him! "For no man ever yet
hated his own fiesh; but nourisheth
and cherisheth it, even as the Lord
the church" (verse 29).
Realizing that his wife is part of
him, a man certainly ought to have
a solicitous and protective feeling
toward bis wife and sweetheart.
Even beyond this, though, he
should constantly be thinking of
helping her as the weaker vessel so
tbat she does not strain or overdo
and so that her grace and beauty
may be preserved throughout all of
their married life. A real man will
notice wben bis wife is overworking
and ligbten her burdeos whenever
possible. He will leap to action to
liJt heavy things for her, help her
when she is sick, and protectively
and lovingly watch over her in
many such ways.
If
you husbands will learn this
lesson, your wives will repay you in
a thousand ways over the years to
come if you learn to give this help
wben it is needed-and give it free–
ly and in kindness.
lnspirat ion to Grow
Inspiration to grow? By tbis 1 mean
tbat the husband sbould not only
lead the family in general, but
sbould be tbe inspirer for each and
every member of the family to
develop his or her full potential as a
human being and heir of God.
A wise and loving husband
should inspire and encourage bis
wife to grow in bodily healtb. He
should be solicitous about her get–
ting enough sleep, enough exercise,
tbe proper diet and the right kind
of recreation.
Actually, although this should
not be his motive, in helping his
wife he is helping himself. For a
strong, graceful and healthy body is
certainly the basis of a warm, viva–
cious and loving personality. And
certainly every rigbt-minded man
would want to keep his wife sweet
and beautiful as his sweetheart
throughout their life together.
He should also encourage his
wife in mental development. He
should analyze whether his wife,
like sorne others, might tend to
stagnate, become bored with life,
bog down in the use of grammar,
knowledge of world atfairs and in
intellectual development.
When possible, an inspiring trip
will add a great deal to a wife's
outlook on the world in general and
her own life in particular.
Every husband should be most
concerned with his wife's happiness
and personality. He should inspire
and encourage her constant devel–
opment and growth in these areas.
Certainly by loving and helping
her- sharing deeply with her his
hopes and aspirations- he will be a
tremendous inspiration to her in
this regard. Whenever possible, he
should express affection to her in
the right way-showing by a thou–
sand big and little things that he
laves her deeply, appreciates her
and wants her happiness above all
else.
By all of this outgoing concern,
and by making sure his wife does
get the right amount of recreation,
travel and friendly association with
others .of like interest, a husband
may be assured that his wife is hav–
ing a full and balanced life as God
intended, and is even in this laying
up a rich store of treasures that will
bring forth happiness in marriage
for years to come.
The area of character develop–
ment is one also in which a really
strong and masculine husband
should take the lead.
All too often, especially in our
modern world, men seem to think
that it is up to the wife to talk
about spiritual things and get the
children interested in things con–
cerning God and the Church. This
is
not true,
and any man who fails
his God-given responsibility in this
is simply selling out his own birth–
right. For God intended the man–
if he will act on his responsibilities
and opportunities-to be the spiri–
tual leader in the home.
Notice this inspired scriptural
statement: " But I would have you
know, that the head of every man is
Christ; and the head of the woman
is the man; and the head of Christ
is God"
(1
Cor. 11 :3).
lt
is
your responsibility,
hus–
bands, to take and to maintain the
(Continued on page 28)
The PLAIN TRUTH