Hi guys, great verses today. Important and beautiful lessons.

Here you can find the text tham I'm reading:

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1 Timothy 3:4-5, “He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)”

Interesting points:
1. In this verse Paul builds upon the previous ones advising Timothy concerning those who aspire to serve the church in the role of overseer who “must be above reproach.” Like the previous verse, this provides criteria to help evaluate someone for the role of overseer, the lack of children would also not preclude someone from serving as overseer.

2. It makes sense that our family knows us best for they see us on good days and bad, and behind closed doors. God-fearing believers will demonstrate God’s love in caring, correcting and teaching their children to not only respect the ways of the Lord, but set the example in dealing with others. God’s work in their lives results in their even-handedness, grace, mercy, and authentic lives which in turn inspire trust, confidence and respect in their children, no matter what their natural mettle is.

3. Obviously, having children – like finding a good wife – is a blessing and one that God does not necessarily grant everyone. Those without children (for whatever reason) should not be disqualified as their status should not be interpreted as evidence of God’s disfavor or curse. In cases like the unmarried man or the childless couple, we should look to other evidence demonstrating their good character which “must be above reproach”. In this case, how do they deal with children? Do they set the right example for them? Can they correct them appropriate for their age, etc. Similar to the unmarried man who remains celibate and builds up his sisters in Christ and treats non-believing women nobly, a potential overseer has a heart for seeing children grow up in the ways of the Lord and can communicate (at their level) God’s Word/Truth.
4. Lastly, the converse is most certainly true: the Godly man who takes care of God’s people, will have the necessary character to manage his own household righteously.
Application.
Brothers, raising children is no easy task but it is an excellent indicator of whether someone is truly walking with God or a hypocrite. Like a spouse, all children observe us closely but sometimes they feel disappointment, rejection, and anger more acutely because we become their reference point for righteous living and authority in their first years of life.
When they grow up, they start comparing us to others and question our motivations and rationale, testing us and evaluating if they really want to follow in our footsteps.
May God help us to better see the impact we make on the littlest of his children so that we encourage them to approach and follow Him!