Okay, 1 Peter chapter three is where we're at tonight. And just picking up where we left off, we're looking at authority structures that God ordained, is what we were looking at last week. And so someone with authority is a leader, and somebody following an authority, they're in subjection to that leader. We don't like that terminology, but that's the truth. If somebody is leading, then somebody else is following. And we talked about last week how even in the Godhead, there's that structure. The Son is subject to the Father and the Holy Spirit is subject to the Son and to the Father. And so even in the Godhead, there's organization. It's just necessary for life. And we talked about life would be very disorganized without leadership. If we didn't have somebody that was in charge, it'd be very difficult to do anything. We couldn't determine laws if we didn't have governors. We couldn't enforce laws without authority. A policeman would have no, you know, pull somebody over. Why are you pulling me over? You're the same as me. You know, it wouldn't work. Teachers couldn't lead their classes if they didn't have authority. And so again, the focus in 1 Peter 3, though, is the authority structure within marriage, that God ordained the man as the head of his home and put the wife under the man. and under her husband, and then the children under both their parents. And so some reminders, as we come back to this again and look at this again, leadership is a privilege and a responsibility. And so, I mean, as much as somebody might think, oh, I want to be the leader because that's a privilege, there is with leadership the great responsibility of, you know, making decisions in the fear of God and making sure that you make the right decisions and that someday you're going to give an account to God for the decisions that you make. And even if a wife wants to lead, the husband is still the one that's accountable to God, right? And so say a wife takes that leadership wrongly from her husband, that husband still has to look up to God and recognize in the Word of God, he's the one that's going to give an account to God, his wife is not. And so he's got to take that leadership of his family. superiority and inferiority. in the home, despite they might be superior in their giftedness in some ways. So, leadership also does not mean lording it over those who follow, but it does mean taking the reins of your home and exercising that responsibility with God-given grace and wisdom and recognizing that you have that responsibility. Now, we need to decide, you know, as you guys grew up and as, you know, there in marriage we needed to decide what model is going to be the model that I follow. Am I going to follow a biblical model or am I going to follow a worldly model like the telly model that you get you know from the sitcoms or something like that you know where you have the father that's weak, inept, foolish, and really the somebody that is is a biblical role model that is a wise and faithful courageous leader and for our families and so we need to again consider where we're going to get that that model and what we're going to follow and so we have that ultimate responsibility in our home so we don't want the home Satan wants us to have. Satan would love it If in our Christian homes we had really weak men that don't lead, that sit around and veg and watch the telly, and the wife is the one that has to decide for the kids, the wife is the one that has to say we're going to church or whatever else that they're gonna do spiritually in the home, we're gonna have family devotions or something like that, or we're not gonna watch that, we're gonna watch this, and praise God for godly women that'll step up, maybe if their husband's not the leader he needs to be, That husband ought to be the one that sets the tone for that home and takes that leadership. And so last, we were focused on the biblical life, and let me just highlight again what we looked at, the biblical lifestyle of Christian womanhood, an exemplary lifestyle, submitting to even an unsaved husband, and he's not gonna necessarily like her Christianity, and so he might make it tough for her, but that she would be godly and submit, and through that submission, maybe even reach her husband with the gospel, because he looks at that and he sees that even though maybe he's making it difficult for her, she is submitting. pure lifestyle while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Again, how contrary that is to modern day womanhood that's very immodest, very cheap and shallow and laughing, joking and obnoxious and things. But, you know, here this modest lifestyle of the quiet and meek spirit that not the outward adoring, but the inner man, that is godly, and that's priceless, just like Sarah, the Bible spoke about, and the holy women of the past, all right? So, our world needs to see that. We really need, even, I would say this in our church, we need godly men and godly women that are young people, and even other people that might visit our church, look at it and say, you know, that's different than what I see in the world, so that we have that role model, even for children, maybe that come to our church, they don't have Christian parents, but that they can look and see that in, in the men and women that are in our church. And so that's good for the world to see, but it's good for our young people here in our church to see as well. And so we look at biblical womanhood tonight, we're gonna look at biblical manhood, and specifically a husband that's rightly related to his wife in the way that he's leading her, all right? So let's pray and ask the Spirit of God to help us become the Word of God tonight. Father, I do ask that the Spirit of God would speak to our hearts tonight. This is different than what the world says, and certainly, Father, that text, 1 Peter 3, and verses 1 through 6 or 7 here, speaking about godly and biblical womanhood, and really, wifehood, is so different than what the world says as far as spirit, modesty of spirit, modesty of dress, and yet, Father, somebody that's like that, a godly woman, is more beautiful than any woman because she's beautiful, where it really counts, Lord, in her heart relationship with God. And Father, what a precious mother that would be, what a precious wife that would be, what a jewel to her family. But tonight, as we switch and we look at the biblical tonight. May the Spirit of God speak to our hearts, those of us that are married, those of us that someday will be married, Father, that we would know how to be a godly husband. And Father, even as the Bible speaks about, I thank you for instruction in the Word of God about the family. If it wasn't for that, we'd just have to think, well, kind of, what do I think is best? Or what do my neighbors or my friends think is best? But I thank you tonight that we can say, what does God say is best? What does God see is best? And what does God to our lives tonight. Really, I pray for that tonight. I pray, Spirit of God, that you speak to our hearts each about something that we can add to our life. And Father, I can't speak without your enablement. I thank you for those that are here tonight, and I want to be a blessing to them tonight as they share the Word of God. So I ask that the Spirit of God give us grace to attend upon your Word without distraction. And Father, we pray for the young people in their class tonight, as well as Mrs. Schor, that you bless and guide in there as well. Speak to their hearts. And Father, may this be a very profitable night. We pray for a powerful prayer time. Bible study and go to prayer. May the Spirit of God just guide us in our prayer time and bless that time as well. It's in Christ and we pray. Amen. All right, so God honoring leadership found in the biblical lifestyle of Christian man for our young men make some mental notes for those of us that are married we've got to examine our life in light of what the Word of God says and compare notes with God okay and so verse 7 says likewise he husbands dwell with them okay so when boys and girls grow up they become men and women at least that that is God's intention all right through their young people forever, they're to mature and they're not to stay under mom and dad forever. The Bible says in Genesis 2 24, therefore shall man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh. Alright, so there's some instruction that God gives about leaving and cleaving and growing up. We live in a day where boys will be boys means that they're just going to kind of continue in that and that really kind of a boy no longer becomes a man. I saw a statistic and I wish I could remember exactly what it was but I don't know, 16, 17, something like that. But now it's pushed off, I mean, I think into like 30 years of age or something like that before somebody's taking responsibility for their life and really being as a man, a man, you know, as they should be. And so I've heard of grown men that spend hours playing video games. I played video games when I was growing up, but the Bible says, when I became a man, I put away childish things. And it's not that you can never play video games, but to the neglect of your children, to the neglect of your wife, I mean, I've heard of men that are just obsessed with Video games and things like that it could be so many other things sports or hobbies or things like that They're just kind of game type things to the neglect of their family. There's others that Don't leave and cleave. Maybe they make a mistake of bringing their parents into their marriage maybe because of that how expensive it is and whatever they get married and they stay at home instead of Moving out starting out on their own trusting in the case of a Christian family trusting God to meet their needs God again, God's Word helps us get it right. When we look at the Word of God and say, what does God say about a Christian family? And so when two individuals get married, they're no longer two, but one. And God made them to be one flesh, and God designed it that way. And so my counsel as a pastor to somebody that's getting married, I'd say, do away with the individual bank accounts. Get a joint bank account. Because that's what God's doing in your life. He's bringing you together. Two are becoming one. It's not his money, her money. It's our money. And we're trusting God how to use the money that we have. I believe they ought to both help in the home according to the responsibilities that God's given to them. But a man shouldn't say, well, that's her responsibility. But she get involved there in the home. winner for the family, according to what God says. He has that responsibility of going out and providing for his home. 2 Thessalonians 3 10, for even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should Right? Speaking to the men, get that job. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such, we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work and eat their own bread. I mean, that's pretty clear. Paul didn't say, well, I suggest, you know, I think it'd be nice if, or anything like that. He said, go get a job and work and provide for your family. You know, there's a lot of men in our society of this day that are unadult. give somebody money and they just stay at home and they don't go out and work. By the way, I've said to our church before, work is not a part of the curse, right? Adam was working in the Garden of Eden before that curse came. The curse is that it's going to be a little bit more difficult now when you work. It's not going to produce like it used to. It's going to be in the sweat of your bra and there's going to be thorns and things that are going to make it difficult. The work itself was God made us to be satisfied and to get enjoyment out of work. And so that's God's plan. Bible says 1 Timothy 5 8, but if any provide not for his own, especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. Okay? And in contrast of that, so the men should be the breadwinner. That's God's plan. at all possible, and I know there might be some exceptions, the husband dies and the wife's got to provide for those kids, but you know maybe some extreme situation, but generally speaking God's will is that a woman be a stay-at-home mom and that she be able to provide for the nurturing of the children and for taking care of the house. That's what the Word of God says. 1 Timothy 5 14, I will therefore that the young women marry the give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully, okay? But both of them ought to recognize life is no longer singular. It's plural. It's not about a man going out with his mates, that wife going out with her friends or whatever. They do their own thing. It's that, no, we're a couple now. Gus joined us together. they don't enter into it like that. They're still living in their youth as if their youth is continuing when they need to be a man and woman, as God intends them to be in that relationship of marriage. at that specifically tonight. And so this has to do with a husband and how he thinks about his wife or how he relates to his wife. So remember as men to be considerate, to be considerate. Verse seven says, likewise husbands dwell with them according to knowledge. All right. And in our sitcom world, what would be the joke? Right? You're kidding. You can't figure her out. You can never possibly understand her. They would say she's a woman, but I mean the Word of God is very clear that it's possible for man to understand his wife and to know his wife and to know what makes her tick and what she likes and where she's at and to dwell with her again according to knowledge, be considerate. that in this day right that there is a difference between a man and a woman so don't don't expect her as a woman to carry the burdens in your home. That's God's given us as men, broad shoulders and that ability to carry maybe some things that our wives can't carry. And some of those seem to be emotional type things or things that, you know, she's not as emotionally strong as a man is because she's a woman. God made her different in that way. Women are wired differently than men. You know, we don't react the same way to the same circumstances. you know I went away to college you know I miss my daughter and I miss my son and yeah I mean I love to see him I love for them to come back and where it's hard for me it's like ten times harder for my wife yes that's a big leaving, you know, 3,000, what is it, like 4,000, actually probably closer, 4,000 miles away, and that's a heavy burden for her. I need to understand that, that that's really difficult for her, where it's maybe a lot easier for me to face that. I need to be sympathetic and understand that that's a bigger burden to her, because a woman is more emotionally sensitive. You know, children they don't come to dad because dad would just say, hey, you know, slug him in the shoulder and say get on with it, you know, or something like that, where normally a mother's, oh, look at that boo-boo, you know, and whatever, and really shows affection for that child, and that's what they want. They want that emotional response. They know they'll get it from mom. And so we have to understand that. Where it's no big deal for me, it might be a big deal for my wife. And so dwell with her according to knowledge. Know that she's a woman. She's emotionally different. She's physically different. And we're going to focus on this in the next point. But women are not as strong as a man. They don't have the physical strength of a man. We lived across from the club. You know, other things that are taking place, loud cursing and things like that. And so there's a drunk this time, you know, that was kind of being belligerent and doing different things. I called the police, and I saw the police response, and it was a woman that came, a woman police officer. She's got this guy on the middle of the street, and it just wasn't going well. I'm not laughing at her, I'm just saying it wasn't going well. And I called the police again, and this is what I find a little bit humorous. They say she's got, she can call for backup, because I said, you need to see something. And they said she could call for backup, whatever. And she did subdue the man that got on with it. But I'll tell you this. If I'm in a fight with somebody, and I'm going to call for police, and I'm thankful for a woman police officer. I believe there's a lot of great things that a woman police officer can do. But when it comes to an issue of strength, I want the biggest guy in the police force to be there to help me out. And the fact is, men are made differently than women. Men are stronger than women. In the transgender sports thing right now, you're getting all this flack about, you know, women not wanting to compete against a man because a man is physically stronger. They're going to be able to swim faster or run faster or things like that because they've got greater physical strength because that's the way God made them. So I need to understand that when it comes to my wife. She doesn't have the stamina that I've got. She doesn't have the strength that I've got because I'm a man and she's a woman. So again, we're thinking about be considerate. Let's think about the fact that that wife is a woman. So she's emotionally different. She's physically, emotionally and physically weaker than her husband. And so we can understand that. And we ought to know that she needs us to affirm our love for her, right? That wife needs her husband to affirm that love that he has for her. Some men, I think, think it's not manly to say those words, I love you. So there's some dads that never tell their kids that they love them. There's some husbands that never tell their wife that they love them. You've heard the saying about that man that said, I told you when I married you, I loved you. And if I changed my mind, I'll let you know. All right, you got it over with. Tying right when he got married or something like that is humorous, but I mean it's not humorous in real life It's a sad thing when a wife's going through a marriage thinking does he love me or does he not? He never says he never expresses his love whether verbally or in any other way to me to let me know that he loves me, you know We really need affirmations of love It's just interesting, we're constantly doubting whether somebody has an affection for us, and so we need those affirmations of love. God does that for us. John 3.16, for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. So he tells us, right? I love you. I gave my Son for you. John 15.13, greater than love. hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." I can understand, Christ loves me. Why? Because he died for me. He paid the price for my sin. John 15, 13, greater love. I'm sorry, Romans 5, 8, but God commended his love for us in that while we are yet sinners, Christ died for us. Right, so he demonstrated us. He showed it to us. I mean and how many times I don't know about you But so many times I'm going through my day It would just be like God does something and it's almost like he said, I love you, right? It's like wow I mean God was just so good. He just made it so clear that he's for me and he's he's with me and again We ought to be that person that does that for us our spouse and says, expresses our love to one another. Now that could be a date, that could be a gift, that could be peck on the cheek and arm around the shoulder, just something encouraging, affectionate to show love. And so we need to be considerate in that way. If she's a woman, she needs to express love. So remember she's a woman and be considerate. And then remember she is delicate. She's delicate. Verse seven says, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel. All right. And so she used to be, she used to be honored. I remember my father taught me and taught us kids that mom is the queen of the house. And if I was speaking to my mom, and I spoke to my mom in a way that I should not speak to my mom, I was disrespectful or rude or something like that, I mean, I can almost see my dad looking at me and saying, she is my wife. She is your mother. You will not treat her that way. All of us probably right now are kind of remembering our youth. If we had a dad that would do that, and rightly so, I'm so glad that my dad would say something like that to me, because what was he teaching me? He states to me, you honor the mother that God's put in this home. You honor my wife that God has put into this home. And that's a great thing for a dad to model to his kids. You know, if my dad did not model that to me, how would I have treated my mom? I would have disrespected her. And again, as a church, that's where I say to us, we need to lead out in these things so that people see this model, so they understand what this looks like, because this is what God intends, that in the home that that wife his wife, as long as I can remember. I mean, that's always something that he did and always would do is that he would open that door for her. Praise God for manners that are taught. We try to do that in our families even still, but it's so out of vogue, isn't it? That idea of stepping in front of a woman to open the door for her, allowing her to go first. standing up when a woman comes into a room, taking her hat off to speak to a woman. You know, these are all good things that sadly, because of the equalities, maybe things that are taking place in our society, these things have been put into the past, but it would be good to resurrect these things and really treat women with respect, but specifically a husband honoring wife and giving honor to a wife. And so let's be that example. She used to be honored. And then she has a precious vessel in her home, right? So it speaks about as unto the weaker vessel. And again, somebody that doesn't understand the word of God may look at that and despise that. The idea is, I think, is that strength is, again, this idea of superiority. If you have strength, then don't say that I'm weak. But when the Bible speaks about as unto the weaker vessel, it's not saying that this is something lesser. It's kind of like if you have plateware, you've got normal maybe stoneware or something like that, and you've got fine china. Or you've got glassware and you've got crystal, right? I mean, these are weaker, but they're more valuable. They're better. I mean, they're amazing. And so it's in that sense the Bible's speaking about as giving honor to the wife, it's unto the weaker vessel. She is precious, she is delicate, and that's not a bad thing. Imagine in your youth, and I can imagine this in my youth, you know, I'm in my home and all of a sudden, you know, a robber breaks into my home. There's a bad guy in my home. I got my mom and my dad. My dad jumps behind the couch. My mom steps up, you know, and like takes out the guy. I think I would just be kind of embarrassed, like, Dad, where were you, right? Get in there, do something. Why? Because that is funny, because that's not the way it should be. God made the dad to be the defender. God made dad to be the protector. Mom is not the one going to jump out there and take care of it. I don't want to shove my mom out in a situation like that. But I'd be like, dad, get in there. Do something. Why? Because she's the weaker vessel. And so she needs to be precious. somebody that again is pushed out there to take care of a situation like that so remember she's delicate so she's to be honored and she's a precious vessel and then remember she is equal she's equal verse 7 it says and as being heirs together of the grace of life okay because somebody could think yes okay she's the weaker vessel so that means because I'm the husband, you know, and she's a lesser Christian, but that's not what God's Word says. God's Word says, you are heirs together of the grace of life. The quote says it this way, the ground is level at the foot of the cross. You know, I mean, there is no male or female in the sense of God's children in their superiority or in either, in any case. It has to do with the home, husband and wife. Yeah, that has to do with the home and for leadership purposes. But when it comes to God's children and God's family, it's equal. Somebody could incorrectly think the pastor has authority. And so because he has authority, that's superiority. And it's not right that only men can have this position of authority and superiority. And so a woman should be able to hold that position as well, but that the Bible is not, It's not at all looking at us in the church and saying the pastor is greater than anybody, first of all, and definitely not that the pastor is greater than a woman who can't hold the office of a pastor. You know, I think eternity is going to have some interesting stories about maybe a ministry that succeeded, and God was blessing tremendously, and there's a preacher that's preaching with liberty and power, the Word of God. people are getting saved and things like that. But then, you know, if you step back and unveil the unseen that God alone sees, you see maybe an elderly widow woman that's on her knees through the night begging God to work in her church. And by the grace of God, God answers and he does so in that ministry. And it looks like the man man, no doubt, but the man of God is the one that has the power. No power is in that woman that's on her knees. You know, it's just to say, you know, we look at it and think, well, because he gets the lead or something. Maybe we have deacons in our church, and they're men, and maybe some woman could think, well, I can't do anything for God. If I don't have that position of superiority, it's not a superior position, it's just a position of authority that God's given, and so if I can't have that, I can't be as great for God, and that's not what God teaches. That's not what God's word teaches. A wife could be as powerful and dynamic, and by the way, the saying I think is correct, that behind every great man is a great woman. I readily admit that by the grace of God, if I ever achieve anything for God, it's only because I had a godly wife that was a great support, great encourager, great motivator, and so many times gives insight into situations and even things that we're gonna do. Decisions I get to make as pastor, but that is influenced by her insight into what is taking place, right? And so, praise God, a husband should remember authority is not equal to spiritual superiority. but that they're equal before the Lord. And then the last point tonight in our Bible study is that remember that you can't be wrong with your wife and right with God, okay? You can't be wrong with your wife and right with God because it says, okay, I'm gonna tell you this instruction, he says, and then he says at the end, that your prayers be not hindered. In other words, you can't ignore verse seven, everything that the Bible's just said, and get to the point and say, well, I'm not really interested in doing that and think that that's okay with God. So a Christian husband who is not considerate of his wife, he doesn't dwell with her according to knowledge, he forgets that she's delicate and tries to make her like she's one of the guys, you know, get in there, whatever, and forgets that he's to honor her and that he's to treat her as a weaker vessel, which she is. who thinks that she's not equal as a child of God, treats her as if she has no place before God, like he's the great spiritual authority, or the spiritual one in the family, he's not gonna have easy access to God, all right? His prayers are gonna be hindered. In one of the churches in which I've served in the past, we had people that were out of sorts with the pastor. The pastor was God's given leader to that church, and they didn't agree with whatever, and they just basically in their heart and very clearly refused to get right with the pastor. You know what I knew about those people? I knew you're not right with your pastor, you're not right with God. the son of the godly pastor. This pastor loved the Lord, and there's no such thing as a perfect pastor, but this pastor was not doing something horrible or something that couldn't be followed or anything like that. And you might wonder, why would you say that they can't be right with God? Well, the Bible says in 1 John 4, 20, if a man say, I love God, and he hateth his brother, he's a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen How can he love God when he hath not seen? I get it, a pastor could be wrong. In this case, I think the pastor was right. They were clearly out of sorts with him. I will not forgive you. So what is that? That's hate. And if they hate him, guess what? They don't love God. They can say they love God, but they, in actuality, do not love God, because God's word tells us that is the case. In the same way, they refuse to forgive people in the church. Whether a pastor or somebody else, you know, I'm not a source of that person. You just know in a church sometimes, a bigger church, this person and this person do not get on. Or it could be in a family where there's a breakdown and there's a refusal on the part of somebody to forgive somebody else. What do we know about that person? If you're not going to forgive, that person, guess what, you're not gonna get forgiven by God. Matthew 6, 14. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. And so there's times that we can know, you are absolutely not right with God. You can say you're right with God, you can think you're right with God, but look, if you're not forgiving or if you hate somebody that you can see that's a brother, listen, you're not right with God. In the same way, we can look at this text and say, if you're not treating your wife the way that God says that you're to treat your wife, your prayers are hindered. You don't have access to God. And the Bible says, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. And so I ought to really stop and think about this as a, if I'm a godly man and I'm married, that I make sure that I am right with my wife and treating my wife correctly, because if I'm not, it's going to hinder my walk with God. I've got godly grandparents on both sides. Most of my grandparents are in glory. My grandma, Roth, is 90-something, and she's alive and kicking and doing well. I mean, I got a keen mind, and she's pretty spry still and lives in Des Moines. My mom and dad are close by and take care of her. But my granddad passed away on that side just a couple years ago, and then my grandpa and grandma, sure, they actually passed away quite a while ago. But my dad's parents, Grandma and Grandpa Schroer, live out in Colorado. It's where they were, and they are godly, love the Lord. When we go to their house, I read the Daily Bread, if you remember that devotional, and we pray together every night that we're there. I remember Grandma weeping in prayer for her grandkids, and that really impacted my heart as a young person and things like that. Just as with anybody, they weren't perfect people, and there was a time that in their older age, they got in a fight. I don't know what happened, but Grandma is a fiery lady. She was upset at Grandpa. Grandpa was kind of quieter. He was the leader in the home, but he was quieter. She's a strong and upset woman here. And Grandma was so upset, she thought, I'm going to move some furniture around, just kind of get that energy out. So she rearranged the bedroom and everything, moved this and that here and there. And that night, they got in bed, and they hadn't gotten right yet. And that wasn't normal. They had decided long before that they'd always make sure that they're right with one another and not go to bed angry or something like that. And so Grandma's still upset about it. So she gets up, she goes into the bathroom, and she's slamming the cupboards and making all sorts of noise. just trying to keep Grandpa awake and on edge. And she comes back in, and she goes to plop down in the bed. She's thinking she's really going to shake him, like make him flip out the other side of the bed or something. So she bumps in the air, and she goes down. But she forgot she moved the bed. And so she hits the floor, and Grandpa hears, oh! And so she's being real quiet now, and she's trying to get back in bed. She gets up, she gets back in bed, and she can feel the bed shaking. you know, because Grandpa's just laughing so hard. So then, and she had a great sense of humor. They both did, but she really had a fun sense of humor. And then she had a cackling laugh, and then they just both lost it, and they got right with each other, all right? You know, the thing about that story is marriage takes work. Somebody could think, well, That's easy for you, because you're a Christian or something like that, or you love God. Well, listen, at some point, I guess in marriage, there's always going to be a time where there's difficulty, and Satan's going to make sure to bring that out. But that we look at our marriage and say, you know what? I want to be that godly husband. And as a wife in that marriage, I want to be that godly wife. And so how do we do that as men? We do that by caring for our wives, so we need to be considerate. and stop and think about the fact, you know, emotionally and physically, she's not as strong as I am, because that's not the way God made her. And she needs me to affirm my love and to let her know that I love her. She's delicate. And so to honor her and understand she's a weaker vessel. She's my equal. I'm not greater because I'm the leader. We're equal before God, but I have the responsibility of leadership. And then remember, you can't be wrong with your wife. and right with God. So if I recognize things aren't right, then I need to get that right so I can be right with God. And so God help us to do that and we'll have good marriages this spring. Father, I pray that the Spirit of God help us to see this take place in the marriages in our church. Lord, we really need this modeled before young people. It's so contrary to society. Society, I suppose, says trade And if they do teach leadership, they teach the wrong kind of leadership. But I pray, Father, that the Spirit of God gives grace to have men in our church that are considerate, express their love, recognize that a wife is not like one of the guys, but is to be honored in a weaker vessel, equal before God, and that they can't be wrong with their wife and right with God. And Father, that we have godly wives that have a meek and quiet spirit, are willing to submit and follow the leadership that God has put into their life. And Father, that really model biblical womanhood. And we pray, Lord, that as a church, we'd have those strong families that you can make through that right relationship of a husband and a wife. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen.