An Excellent Husband (Santosh Poonen)

An excellent husband, who can find? He is worth ten thousand others. The way you view God in His dealings with you, is the kind of husband or father you will be to your family. "There are a lot of people around who can't wait to tell you what you've done wrong, but there aren’t many fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up." (I Corinthians 4:15 MSG) Many men know what a "Proverbs 31 wife" is, whose worth is above jewels (Proverbs 31:10); but, they don't know what her husband is like (Proverbs 31:23, Job 29:7-25). 1. An excellent husband is respected by others for his wise speech and blameless conduct, and for how "well-dressed" he is in righteousness and fairness (Job 29:8-11,14). 2. An excellent husband helps others in their time of weakness — especially his wife and children when they feel like spiritual or emotional widows and orphans (Job 29:12-13). 3. An excellent husband wrestles in prayer on behalf of others — especially his wife and children (Job 29:17; Ephesians 6:12). 4. An excellent husband is merciful and compassionate, never provoking or exasperating others; when he sees his wife or children struggling in unbelief, he responds with a long-suffering smile and the light of encouragement from his face. (Job 29:24; Ephesians 6:4; Colossians 3:21). 5. An excellent husband knows God's ways and speaks of God's faithfulness; he guides his wife and children by exhorting, encouraging, and imploring them (Job 29:25; I Thessalonians 2:11). We ought to be able to say, "If you have seen me as a father, you have seen the Father" (John 14:9). The Church is the "Elijah" whose ministry it is to restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers before Christ’s return (Malachi 4:6).