Most men who sit in church assume the Biblical record is correct in three crucial areas.

I. God wired men to work.

Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.

-Genesis 2:15

II. Man’s environment is cursed.

Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground...

-Genesis 3:17-19

III. Man needs a helper.

The LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'

-Genesis 2:18

But the thing that most men forget is this.

IV. Man’s helper has been tainted.

To the woman He said, 'I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you will bring forth children; yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.'

-Genesis 3:16

Yet your desire will be for your husband.

How is that a curse?

Hebrew word: Desire: means to rule over or over throw.

It is the same word and idea communicated in Genesis 4.

Then the LORD said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.'

-Genesis 4:6-7

Sin desires to overthrow you.

Sin desires to conquer you.

Sin desires to master you.

So, not only is man’s environment going to be cursed.

His number one helper is going to have her own tension.

She is going to fight the temptation to want to overthrow her husband, conquer her husband, master him, and dethrone him.

This is where the tension enters.

The relationship or environment where men feel most competent, as men, to lead, nourish, arrange and encourage, that relationship or environment will capture his heart, and, if he is not careful, the majority of his time, attention, and affection.

For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

-Ephesians 5:23-24

What kind of leader are men called to be? Servant-Leaders

Modern women have been told that if they are not leading the family, they are not equal. This is not the Bible’s position.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

-Galatians 3:26-29

1) Biblical Headship involves servanthood.

2) Biblical Headship involves voluntary, respectful submission between equals.

However, when we fail as a church to encourage young women to discover their leadership potential, we are not being consistent with Church History or Biblical Teaching.

The Bible encourages both men and women to pursue their spiritual gifts and does not limit any gift to one particular gender.

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

-Colossians 3:18

Notes on “Submit.”

I. Most wives have never created the vacuum for more than a few hours.

II. Submitting for a long time is difficult for most wives.

III. Many women do not realize how aggressively they have taken the reigns.

The place where men are able to lead, that place will captivate their hearts, minds, attention, and time.

Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.

-Colossians 3:19

Your greatest adventures will be with your wife by your side—encouraging you, loving you and honoring you, and, you doing the same for her.

1. Love your wife sacrificially.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

-Ephesians 5:25

Regular, cheerful, voluntary acts of service communicate to our wives, "You are treasured!"

2. Love your wife communicatively.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word.

-Ephesians 5:25-26

Date Night! Three Questions:

3. Love your wife spiritually.

What do Christian women really want?

“She longs to be in a relationship with a man who is involved in something that transcends the daily concerns of life.”

Flourishing marriages are rare, but common to flourishing marriages is a man who commits himself to a cause beyond his own small circle of interests.

-Kathryn Johnson

I would rather have Billy half the time than any other man in the world all of the time.

-Ruth Graham

Culture has convinced men that their lives are ultimately about how much money they have and how high they have climbed the corporate ladder.

As a result, God, Church and Jesus are seen as irrelevant to my greatest pursuits of happiness.

That’s why most men feel depressed, anxious and overwhelmed.

It's time for us men to turn our hearts back to God, and to our wife, and to our families.