IF ANY
PROVIDE NOT FOR HIS OWN HOME,
HE IS WORST
THAN AN INFIDEL
(I Timothy
5:8)
INTRODUCTION
“But if any provide not for his own, and
especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse
than an infidel”
–I
Timothy 5:8. (KJV).
“If anyone fails to provide for his relatives, and
especially for those of his own family, he has disowned the faith (by failing
to accompany it with fruits), and is worse than an unbeliever (who performs his
obligation in these matters)” –I Timothy 5:8 (Amplified).
“But if anyone
does not provide for his relatives,
and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is
worse than an unbeliever” –I Timothy
5:8 (NIV).
“If anyone has no care for his family and those in
his house, he is false to the faith, and is worse than one who has no faith” -I
Timothy 5:8 (Bible in Basic English
Version).
“But if a man makes no provision for those dependent on
him, and especially for his own
family, he has disowned the faith and is behaving worse than an unbeliever”
-I Timothy 5:8 (World English Bible
Version).
“Anyone who fails to provide for his own relations,
and especially for those under his own
roof, has disowned the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever” –I Timothy
5:8 (Twentieth Century New Testament
Version).
Paul
primarily was counseling Timothy in this passage. He was admonishing him on the
care of widows in the church. He mentioned two categories of widows. That is,
ages below 60 and those above 60. He finally narrowed down to providing God
acceptable leadership in the home.
My worries,
however, in today’s seminar is the choice of words (diction) used by Apostle Paul for any man that failed to provide
acceptable leadership in the home front.
(verse 8) “…worst than an infidel”. That is, “an unbeliever”.
This is
because the most terrible thing that can happen to any man in life is not:
§ Getting married
§ Having children
§ Building a house
§ Buying a car
§ Being educated
§ Becoming a Doctor or a Professor
§ Being rich and et cetera
The worst that can happen to any man is to
die as unbeliever. Therefore,
the subject of today is destiny shaper and eternity
determinant. No law(s) restrict an unbeliever to good parenting but for
a Christian man is a no option God mandated assignment. Failure automatically categorises
you as an unbeliever (I Timothy 5:8).
Today’s
seminar is aimed at provoking you to take charge of your God- ordained role in
your family. This is so because you cannot tell the story of your life
without mentioning your family. God’s acceptable parental order of leadership
is the home.
“Unto the
woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow
thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he
shall rule over thee” –Genesis 3:16 (KJV).
“For the husband is the head of the wife, even
as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body”
–Ephesians 5:23 (KJV).
“Likewise, ye
wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word,
they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives” –I
Peter 3:1 (KJV).
It is most likely that these are the passages
that made a Greek philosopher postulate
(something assumed without proof as being self-evident) that leaders
are born.
Events today, however, even the
church seems to be supporting the ideas that leadership is like skills and
hence can be acquired by anyone who desires it. This explains why roles of men
are being taking over by women in our homes today. The slogan now in Nigeria
is equality
between men and women. This is coming because men have lost their
pre-ordained position as leaders.
EXPECTATION
FROM A MAN OF THE HOUSE
1. BASIC
NEEDS (I Timothy 5:8).
These include food and shelter.
Why
were the widows fighting? It is because the widows no longer had
husbands to meet their needs and that of their children. Woman can complain of
no food, shelter, this and that. Beloved, not man at all. If there is no work to do, look
for one to do. If there is no money, look for money legitimately. If no
clothes, get clothes for your family members. People will not blame
your woe on anybody, government, including poor parental background etc. Rather, look for way to solve your
family need problems.
Isaac was a
man like you. When he would have failed to meet the needs of his people, he
opened his eyes to see what people needed most in time of drought. Water was
the scarcest commodity. He went into water business not minding his
childhood pedigree. From this, he was about to meet the needs of his family and
even became so rich that the Philistines started enjoying him (Genesis 26:1-22). Nigeria is truly in bad shape. If
you open your eyes wide, however, other men
(competitors like you) are having their ways (Proverbs 24:10; Jeremiah 12:5). Prayerfully, God will lead you to
something to help you out of whatever challenges that can kill your manhood
role in the family. You are a winner in Christ any day.
2. PROVIDE MODELING LEADERSHIP IN THE
HOME
If you hope
to achieve exemplary role model in your family, you must have mentors. You can learn from people
around you with good family setting. This will take you out of all the trial
and errors and mistakes that can cripple your God-ordained role.
God hates
pride (James 4:6) “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud,
but giveth grace unto the humble”. David was an example in the act of
modeling (II Samuel 6:11-12). Seeing
how God blessed Obed-Edom, David wisely brought the Ark of God to his city so
they too could be blessed.
Let your
children know that they have a lot to learn from others that have succeeded in
their home front.
3. PROVIDE
SPIRITUAL ALTAR
i.
Provide a conducive atmosphere
for answerable prayers in your home. The example of Cornelius in Acts 10:1-4. He kept constant hours of prayer. Woman is too pre-occupied
as such with domestic work. They may not be able to do it well.
ii. PROVIDE
LEADERSHIP IN THE STUDY OF THE WORD
See the following people:
(a) Abraham’s example (Genesis
18:17-19)
(b) Lot’s
example (Genesis 19:6-8)
iii. PROVIDE FOR YOUR FAMILY BY THE WORDS THAT
COME
FROM YOUR
MOUTH
In
Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in
the power of the tongue:
and they that love it shall eat the fruit
thereof”.
The seeds you sow determine the kind of harvest you
receive. Words are seeds. So watch the words you daily provide for your family. Numbers 14:28 says: “But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory
of the LORD”.
iv. INTEGRITY
This is another key
provision. It takes a man of integrity to hold family together in our society
today. Men should let their lives to be vices-free but full of virtues. Be upright,
sincere, pure and honest as your contribution to the
growth of your family.
v. PROVISION OF PROTECTION
If you are careless in this
regard, you can loose everything you’ve ever laboured for. In I Samuel 30:1-3, bible says: “And it came to pass, when David and his
men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the
south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire. And had taken
the women captives that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small,
but carried them away, and went on their way. So David and his men came to the
city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons,
and their daughters, were taken captives”.
If it will involve your life, secure your
family while you are still alive.
Jesus is the Lion of Judah. Man,
you are the lion in the home front representing Jesus. The list can go
on and on. I shall however conclude by saying that you have your destiny in your
hand.
There is always a temptation to defend why
you failed. Excuse will never change
anything if you want to succeed in the home front as a man (Proverbs 28:13). Another problem is blaming others for your poor
performance. Nobody can stop you from what you want to become except yourself.
Tony
Akinyemi
said in one of his books STAND OUT when a pastor sees a
church growing and attributes it to diluted preaching. Then, you that have the
sound message should grow faster. After
all Christ our leader had crowd running after Him while he was here.
Adam,
Eve and Satan were full of
excuses for their sins (Genesis 3:12).
They were sent out of the garden God put them (Genesis 3:23). The same God confronted David with his sin. He
cried by saying, “I have sinned against God”
(II Samuel 12:13a) and God forgave him
(II Samuel 1213b). Can you now see the
difference?
CONCLUSION
Let us make up our minds to take charge of our homes
from today and also ask God to help us. He has the power to assist and also
equip us. Our weak points will also be turned to our stronger points. He
had done it in the lives of other people and our own will not be an exception. “Give
Him the broken pieces of your shattered lives, He will mend it”
PREPARED AND DELIVERED BY
PASTOR AKINROTOHUN O.F.
(GOFAMINT, IKERE DISTRICT
PASTOR)
