the Lord.’ (1 Cor. 7:39) One cannot disregard this divine command and expect to have Jehovah’s pleasure. Parents, yours is a heavy responsibility to guide your children in the right way, with a view to marriage that is both honorable and Scripturally sound.

21. Why may the Christian congregation rightly expect good examples from Christian fathers?

²¹ Also, when commenting on Christian fathers who would qualify to be overseers and ministerial assistants, Paul wrote Timothy: He must be “a man presiding over his own household in a fine manner, having children in subjection with all seriousness; (if indeed any man does not know how to preside over his own household, how will he take care of God’s congregation?) “ (1 Tim. 3:1-7) The Christian congregation can therefore rightly expect good family examples from overseers and ministerial assistants. Christian fathers failing to provide such examples could hardly be expected to be retained in positions of oversight.

Role of Wife and Children in a Happy Family

 1. How can the Christian wife contribute much to the happiness of the family circle?

WHO is it that works so closely with the family head in making the family circle a happy arrangement? Who is it that shares this responsibility and privilege? It was Solomon who said: “Has one found a good wife? One has found a good thing.” (Prov. 18:22) How true those words are! Very often in the background and perhaps even unnoticed there is the good wife who is a great source of inspiration to the successful family head. Just how great can the wife’s contribution be to the happiness of the family circle? While we have already discussed the role of the parents at some length, here are some additional points for wives to consider in this respect. First of all, husbands and wives should work as one, think as one, and thus present an unbeatable combination. It is God’s arrangement. (Matt. 19:5) A good wife acts as a complement to her husband and will concur in his decisions, and, in turn, a good husband will want to consult his wife on family matters, that peace and harmony might prevail.

 2. What is vital to keep the family circle a balanced arrangement?

² The apostle Paul comments on this marvelous arrangement for the two primary ones in the family circle when he says: “Let wives be in subjection to their husbands as to the Lord, because a husband is head of his wife as the Christ also is head of the congregation, he being a savior of this body. In fact, as the congregation is in subjection to the Christ, so let wives also be to their husbands in everything.”