We are in the fifth, and final, posting of a 5-part blog series on how to have a successful marriage.\u00c2\u00a0 I am writing this blog, not as one who has figured it all out, but rather one who has learned some things over the last 8 years of marriage and thought I would share those with any who would want to read.<\/p>\n
For the previous tips to a successful marriage or relationship, go here\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6tip #1<\/a>, tip #2<\/a>,\u00c2\u00a0tip #3<\/a> and tip #4<\/a>.<\/p>\n The fifth tip is one that is specific to the men.\u00c2\u00a0 Tip #5: Men: Lead Your Wife Spiritually<\/strong><\/p>\n Although I have been with Sara, dating and married, for over 12 years, I can admit that I still don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fully understand her.\u00c2\u00a0 Women are difficult to understand, as they would probably say the same about us\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6or not.\u00c2\u00a0 However, there is one thing that I know about women\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6ALL women want a man who will lead them spiritually.<\/p>\n It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter if they voice this desire or not, deep down, every woman yearns for a man who is going to care for them and lead them spiritually.\u00c2\u00a0 It is a desire that God has instilled in them.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 And although this is a desire by every woman, it is one that many men, if not most men, in our country neglect.\u00c2\u00a0 But, why?<\/p>\n Why do so many men neglect their wives spiritually?\u00c2\u00a0 Why do so many men forget to meet one of the most intrinsic needs every woman has?\u00c2\u00a0 I believe men neglect to be the spiritual leader for two reasons.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 1.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/strong>They Neglect Their Own Spiritual Lives<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s difficult to lead someone spiritually if a person is not leading themselves spiritually.\u00c2\u00a0 Many men can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t lead their wives because they are not actively engaging their own lives in a pursuit of God.<\/p>\n One of the\u00c2\u00a0godliest men I know, Pastor Michael Morris, spoke truth to me, a long time ago, about this subject.\u00c2\u00a0 He said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ernest, if your wife is struggling spiritually, it is because you are struggling spiritually.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 When he first said these words, I thought he had bumped his head on something.<\/p>\n It made no sense to me at that time.\u00c2\u00a0 I thought, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If my wife is struggling spiritually, it is because she is struggling\u00c2\u00a0 spiritually.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 However, over the years, those words have proven true in my marriage with Sara.\u00c2\u00a0 Any time, I have seen Sara struggling in her relationship with God; I have always been able to identify an area, or many areas of my life that are struggling spiritually.<\/p>\n Just two months ago, Sara and I were having difficulty with communication.\u00c2\u00a0 We were not on the same page and we could not seem to break what some call \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Crazy Cycle.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 As I began to pray and seek the Lord, these words by Pastor Morris rang in my heart, and so I asked God to reveal where it was that I was struggling.\u00c2\u00a0 After a brief time in prayer, God made it clear that my prayer life was out of whack and I was not spending sufficient time praying for Sara and our relationship.\u00c2\u00a0 Once, I addressed this issue, we saw breakthrough in our relationship.<\/p>\n The second reason so many men don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t lead their wives spiritually is because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 2.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 <\/strong>They Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Have Confidence That They Can or They Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Know How<\/strong><\/p>\n It is at this point that I am going to take a break and pick this point up in the next post.\u00c2\u00a0 I could write a book on this subject, so to do this point justice and to make sure you aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t reading a book, I will write about this in the next post.<\/p>\n Bottom line\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6Men, we need to step up our game and be greater spiritual leaders for our wives.\u00c2\u00a0 Women, make sure you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t settle for a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153good man\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, but be patient for the best spiritual leader God brings your way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We are in the fifth, and final, posting of a 5-part blog series on how to have a successful marriage.\u00c2\u00a0 I am writing this blog, not as one who has figured it all out, but rather one who has learned some things over the last 8 years of marriage and thought I would share those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=82"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=82"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=82"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ernestsmith.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=82"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}