STAGES OF PIONEERING WORK IN THE MINISTRY 6
"BUT WHEN IT PLEASED GOD, WHO SEPARATED ME FROM MY MOTHER'S WOMB AND CALLED ME THROUGH HIS GRACE,
to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood."
Galatians 1:15,16 (NKJV)"WHO HAS SAVED US AND CALLED US WITH A HOLY CALLING, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began
TO WHICH I [Paul] WAS APPOINTED A PREACHER, AN APOSTLE, AND A TEACHER OF THE GENTILES."
2 Timothy 1:9,11 (NKJV)
-> Minister and the spouse
- Minister should understand his spouse and carry her along in the ministry work (1 Peter 3:7).
- One of your foremost assignments as a minister is to study his spouse, equip her, train and build her up for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:12).
- For you to do this successfully you have to understand women’s make-up.
- Nobody would be able to train your wife and children as you would (1 Timothy 3:4-5).
- The Scripture says: "for if a man does not know how to rule his house, how will he take care of the church of God?" (1 Timothy 3:5).
•Take time out of your busy schedule to teach and train your wife and children.
- Allow your wife to attend teaching seminars.
EXPOSE her to what you know.
-> Some of the things a Minister's wife should know:
I. That a ministers’ wife should be decent in her dressings (1 Timothy 2:9,10).
II. A minister's wife should be disciplined IN talking: "Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not SLANDERERS [malicious gossips], temperate, faithful in all things" (1 Timothy 3:11).
III. She should not envy whatever anyone put on—she should be content with whatever God provided for her per time (1 Timothy 2:9,10).
IV. She should live by faith and do not take her family affairs to her relatives (Romans 1:17; 2 Corinthians 5:7).
V. Take care of home and children: "TO BE DISCREET, CHASTE, HOMEMAKERS, GOOD, OBEDIENT TO THEIR OWN HUSBANDS, that the Word of God may not be blasphemed" (Titus 2:5).
COOK good food for the husband, because her husband is her first ministry Or assignment (Titus 2:4,5).
VI. She should not be concerned about being known—wanting recognitions (Titus 2:5).
VII. That if her husband is the founder, one who pioneered the ministry, she should know that it might be rough at the beginning, the onset of the work, but it gets better as they progress in the work (Proverbs 4:18).
VIII. That suffering is part of the deal, she should not murmur and complain, the pay day will come—their labour and efforts would be rewarded: "Beloved, DO NOT THINK IT STRANGE CONCERNING THE FIERY TRIAL WHICH IS TO TRY YOU, as though some strange thing happened to you" (1 Peter 4:12).
READ: 1 Corinthians 10:10,11; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18; Hebrews 6:10
IX. That she should also grow in the Word and prayer (Hebrews 5:12-14).
X. That she should learn from every tribulation or problem that comes their way in a bid to fulfil the assignment (Romans 5:3-5).
More things to consider
• That she should make their home peaceful enough for the husband to prosper in the work.
• That she should honour and respect the call of God on her husband's life and teach her children to do the same.
IF she does, God will bless her and make her to be honoured and distinguished among other women, but if she despises, does not respect the husband and the call on him, the people outside: neighbours, Church members, and others, would also not accord her the respect and honour due her.
IN OTHER words, other people outside will be despising her.
• That she should see herself as woman of worth and honour and comport herself accordingly (1 Peter 3:4).
SHE should have the mentality or mindset that she is a mother to many people and her husband.
• She should humble herself and ask God to endow her with wisdom (James 1:5,6).
• She should be submissive to the husband, and the children will follow suit; thus other women in the church would learn the good virtue from her and do the same to their husbands (Titus 2:5).
• She should not be lazy and lousy.
SHE should be meek, AND of quiet spirit (1 Peter 3:5).
• She should not go about begging, making their needs known to everyone.
• Take note:
- As a minister, if you succeed on your wife, you will on your children also.
- Let your wife and children see the truth, proof and evidence of what you are preaching in your life.
- If you still have problems with anger and other character defects, your children and wife may not want to accept your person and the ministry.
- If you are not focus and stable, that is, you are still doubting your call, your wife and children may not follow you—they may NOT believe in your CALL, and they might not regard you.
- The way you carry yourself, comport yourself, at home and how you carry your Ministry, would determine how they treat you and your ministry.
-> How to train your children
- Take time out to teach them the Word of God (Deuteronomy 31:11-13).
- Train them by exposing them to biblical principles that you are practicing: seed-sowing, prayer, fasting, studying of the Word of God, and others (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).
- Live an exemplary life, let your life teach them the Word of God, the Bible.
CHILDREN are copycats, they do what you do, not what you tell them to do. - Let them know what God is asking you to do that will affect the whole family.
- Also, tell them about the faithfulness of God in your life.
THINGS God has done in your life, family, and ministry BOTH in the past and present (Joshua 4:4-7). - When a prayer point is raised and prayed on in the family altar (you should have a family altar), When such a prayer is answered by God, you should bring it to their notice.
- Let them know how to take their matters to God in PRAYER individually.
- Let them know that they are minister's CHILDREN, they should behave themselves anywhere they find themselves.
- Tell them about the call of God on your life and the importance of it.
- Teach them how to honour God, things of God, and the presence of God.
- Teach them how to behave in the church, school, and the society, because they are minister's CHILDREN and other people expect much from them.
THAT their behaviour outside could either have positive or negative effects on the ministry of their father (1 Samuel 2:12; 8:1-5). - That they can be friendly to everyone in the church, however, it should not get to point that they go to people's houses and be telling them what is going on in the family.
- They should learn to be content with whatever you have and whatever you give to them, because THAT was what God has made available: "Now GODLINESS with CONTENTMENT is great gain" (1 Timothy 6:6).
THEY should not beg and covet other people's things, they should be satisfied with whatever God has provided for them as individuals and for the family (1 Timothy 6:7-10).
IT will get better as the family progresses in the assignment of Lord. - Teach them and let them know they have destiny in God, and they should strive to fulfil the purpose why God has sent them to the world (Jeremiah 1:5; Galatians 1:15,16).
- Lead them to Christ, that is, they should give their lives to Christ, be born-again (Romans 10:9,10).
THAT being a minister's child does not automatically make one a believer.
• Take note:
- To accomplish all the highlighted points on your wife and children, you have to pray and fast.
- You have to live by example through the Word of God.
- You have to put your feet down on certain issues.
- It may not be easy, but you will please God at the end (Genesis 18:19).
-> The place of God and that of the spouse
• You must be able to know God’s place and your spouse’s place.
- The place God occupies in your life should not be given to anyone.
- The instructions given to you by God to be carried out should not be subjected to deliberation with your wife, children, board of deacons or elders.
- God wants complete loyalty from you.
- He wants prompt obedience as He commands.
- If a minster begins to shelve the instructions given him by God, because he would not want to hurt the wife, children, Or the church committee, he will suffer terribly for it (1 Samuel 1:1).
- The instructions given you by God are not for deliberation, but for execution.
- Do not share the matters of people which was revealed to you by God, with your wife, except He asked you to do so, and that is for the purpose to pray together on it.
- Do not make the problem shared by someone with you in the place of counseling, a subject of discussion in the family, except God asked you to do that with your wife in order to learn from it, or for the purpose of prayer.
- If you go against these words, God may close, shut the door of information to you from Him, and cause the people not to share their matters with you again.
- It means people will stop coming to your ministry or to you for counseling.
• It is my prayer that you will not miss it in Jesus' name.
Peace!
TO BE CONTINUED