Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the Sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christians' armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

All right, day five, one more day of what it means to be a godly dad. One of the best gifts that you can ever give to your kids as a dad is to love mom. That's right. You see, what more than you want experienced kids, more than you want straight A kids, more than you want kids with a whole bunch of incredible stories to tell and life skills. You want secure kids. And nothing will bring security in the life of children like seeing dad and mom being deeply in love. Listen, I did student ministry for about 15 years. And I saw all sorts of teenagers that were experientially rich and relationally poor. And what I mean by that is they played on all the travel teams, they went to vacations all over the world. They drove way nicer cars than I did, even though I was grown with degrees and a job and they just lived in home. I saw folks that had everything this world had to offer, and yet they were steeped in insecurity because they knew when they got home the home wasn't secure because dad did not love mom. This is a part of created order, men. When men lead in love well, everyone flourishes. The best thing you could do for your children is prioritize first and foremost your relationship with Jesus, but in your home, you prioritize mom over everybody. We did a whole week on this a few weeks ago, but Ephesians 5, 25 and following says this: Husbands love your wife as Christ loved the church, gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of the water of the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself, for no one has ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it just as Christ does the church, because we are members of the body. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Gentlemen, you have to prioritize her over them. You have to love her first before them. A few things this means. One is that it is a really healthy and right and good thing for your children to see you and mom walk out the door to go on dates. And when they say, Where are you going? And you're saying, We are going to one of the best restaurants in town, and they say, Can we come? And you look at them and say, No, you cannot come. And they may say, Well, we want to come. Say, that's too bad. I love her first. I love Jesus first and foremost. In this house, I love her, and because of my love for her, we are able to then love you. You do not let your children disrespect your wife. If they talk back to the queen, then you look at them and you very frankly say, Listen, I made a vow to your mama. Okay? There's no way this household makes it without her. And around this house, we are going to honor and respect mama. And the reason that we do this, again, it is creation order. That God created Adam. Adam got his world in order, and then Eve was introduced into that world. And when you rightly love mom, then what you are doing is you are helping your kids, one, feel the security in a household where mom and dad love one another. It also helps them remember that the whole world does not revolve around them. Our kids are growing up in a society where they get everything they want immediately. It is a really good thing for them to understand that they are not the most important thing in the whole world, that the whole world does not revolve around them. Also, in regards to parenting, when you and mama love each other and respect each other and honor one another and value one another, then it is much easier to be on the same team as you're trying to raise your kids in the love and admonition of the Lord. And so, gentlemen, if you've been lazy with this, if it's been too much t-ball and too much coaching and all of those sorts of things, then you need to re-prioritize your schedule. In fact, what you've got to do is you got to schedule your priorities. You don't prioritize your schedule. And a priority to be a great dad is to take mama on a date, take mama on vacations, is to prioritize her. And when you do that, the ones that will be blessed most will be your kids. Again, I started it off with on Monday with a quote from 3 John verse 4. I have no greater joy than to hear my children are walking in the truth. Gentlemen, my prayer is that as you lean into Jesus and he leans into you, that you would be a godly man and you would raise children that are walking in the truth. Amen.

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