Bath Time!

OK Guys,

Let's get this party started! First of all, I would like to say that I am one of you. I am not a "know-it-all" preacher who has come to tell you the answers to your every test, trial, and trouble. I am right where you are, sharing the thoughts of my heart just as God is dealing with me. My plan is to try and share something at least once a week between Sunday and Monday night- just for men. So here goes...

I got prepared to crawl in the bed and get some rest tonight, but I was lead to crank up the laptop again and crack open my Bible when I got this thought:

My wife and I have a 6 year old son, who for years would cringe when it came to the words "bath time", but somehow once his feet touched the water- for some strange reason he would develop gills which made it difficult for us to get him out of the tub.

My wife has made it her business to teach him everything she knows about bathing and cleansing himself properly. We've actually gotten into it a few times because I felt that she should let him practice more on his own and then have time to play and enjoy the water. It sounds like a great plan to me. She get's to relax, I get her company, and he gets to splash around in the tub until his fingers and toes begin to look like fish scales. (Well don't tell her, but I practice that principle on our "Boyz Nite", when she's off getting her hair done or hanging out with the girls. It seems to work just fine for me).

The problem with that logic is that my son has not yet developed the self-discipline to wash himself on his own, (because he knows that mommy will eventually come and finish the job for him). Each time I could feel my fuse burning, because I know what he's really up to by stalling and causing her to panic in a rush to get ready, (and of course I'm a little jealous because I can't use that same trick to get her to give me a bath). Anyway, as I began to think about it one day, I came to this revelation.

As a parent, it is our responsibility to bathe our children and make sure that they are properly cleaned and ready for the world. We know where dirt will possibly hide, and what will stink later if we don't cleanse it thoroughly. Children are not always actually motivated in the beginning of the cleansing process, but once they see the results, and enjoy the fresh feeling aftrerwards, they are thankful, and able to reap the benefits as they mature and grow into adulthood.

Now guys, let take that same thought, and apply it to the chapter that most of us "churched" husbands are familiar with.



Ephes. 5:25-26 (NLT)
And you husbands must love your wives with the same love Christ showed the church. He gave up his life for her to make her Holy and clean, washed by baptism and God's word.


Guys, we have that same responsibility to "wash" our wives, with the water of the God's Word. I know, things can sometimes get out of hand in our marriages. we get angry, we get stressed, and we often compain about our wives being selfish. If we say what we feel, during those times they look more like dirty little children. But it is in those times that we must remind ourselves that it is our responsibility to take the initiative to wash them with the word, not just sit and stare at the dirt and smell the stink. Not that they want to hear corection or anything else at that time, and especially not from us! But that doesn't negate the fact that it is our responsibility, and we will be held accountable for not doing it. The same way we have to model right living before our children and show them why it benefits them to be clean, we have to model that life before our wives- giving them a godly mission to submit to.

HEY! Don't get angry with me! I said I'm with you. It doesn't feel especially good to my flesh either, but it's the truth. So men, pass the word, and let's work together and get this thing done. We all want to have a clean family. We want our wives to love and respect us, and our kids to respond to the Christ in us. So let's get out that word, and look for his reflection in the bath water. It's not gonna be easy, but I guarantee it will be worth it.

Good night, I'm going to bed!

The Steps of a Good Man…

A Good man is committed to honoring the Lord Jesus Christ through worship, prayer, and obedience to God's word in the power of the Holy Spirit.

A Good man is committed to pursuing strong vital relationships with other godly men, understanding that he needs brothers to help him keep his promises to God, to himself, and to others.

A Good man is committed to practicing spiritual, moral, ethical, physical, and sexual purity.

A Good man is committed to building strong marriages and families with love, honor, protection, and provision; showing leadership by example through practicing Biblical values.


A Good man is committed to supporting the mission of the church by encouraging, and praying for his pastor with love and honor, and also by the giving of his time, his talents, and of his resources.


A Good man is willing to reach far beyond any social, racial, and denominational barriers in order to display the power of unity through God's Holy Spirit.

A Good man is committed to influencing the world around him by being obedient to the commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to obey the greatest commission of all, to go out into all the world, and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.