When men lead

I married my husband because he is a head and not a tail. I am grateful and not jealous that he is more mature than I in the faith, and that he teaches and leads me.

There is no end of trouble when men don't lead. We are in this present mess (i.e., the world as we know it) because Adam didn't lead. When Eve decided to strike out in independence of God, Adam meekly followed. (Genesis 3:6).

Abraham didn't lead the day he put up no resistance to Sarah's scheme to secure the promised heir. Read Genesis 16 and 21 to learn the unpleasant fallout of that momentary lapse of manhood.

King Ahab was a whimpering child led about by his God-hating, Phoenician born wife Jezebel. Not even man enough to complete the theft of Naboth's vineyard on his own, he astounded even the queen with his lack of virility: "Do you now govern Israel?" (1 Kings 21:7).

Even the Babylonian exile is in some part due to men abdicating their spiritual responsibility to their wives. When predicting their punishment, God rebuked them for "the evil of your wives" (Jeremiah 44:9).

"Then all the men who knew that their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by … answered Jeremiah: 'As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you. …" (Jeremiah 44:15-17).

There are plenty of noble wives in the Bible - Mary, Abigail, Hannah, and Sarah most of the time. But things in the world and in the Church go better when men know their God and can lead. I am happy to have a leader, and now hope to become better at being led.