My Perspective On The African-American Family

You may be new to my blog but one thing you will find out about me is that I am not the typical 21st century woman. I don't know if I could classify myself because there are so many facets to me but I guess it would be said that I am more traditional and also I am an African-American young woman, Christian, no kids, never married. Well, I try to look at things from an aspect that God would have me to because...well, He's God. A duh! So, I'm taking a break from my guest blog posts and sharing some edifying perspectives that many women don't know or tend to overlook when dealing with marriage.

Now, let's take my perspective as an African-American woman and what I observe in many African-American women. Once while at a movie theatre, an African-American family with the husband and wife in the mid to late 30s were out with their young daughter/son about 10 or so. There was a long line and the husband was basically being a man and questioning management why the line was so long. Unfortunately, the wife wouldn't let him maintain his God-given authority as head of the household and kept nudging him to be quiet. Now, how crazy does it look to have a woman try to shut up a full grown man when he is basically doing what God made him to do?

Here's a refresher and yeah, I borrowed it:

1. WIVES SUBMIT TO YOUR HUSBAND - EPHESIANS 5:22-24
Ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden the battle of the sexes have been raging on! But here God makes things very simple, wives are to submit to their husbands as unto the Lord. Not slaves, not bossed around like some lower life form, not trampled on like garbage, but to respect, honor, submit to the husband as he is the leader of the family. Now some may not like that, but don’t get mad at me, God said it!

Now, in the African-American family (like many households today) many of the gender roles aren't where they should be and this is a result of many factors: slavery, western culture ideals such as feminism, blah, blah, blah. It is perfectly okay for wives to speak their mind but there is also a time to simply be led. A husband is a covering and that is the way God ordained it. When you try to step out of your role that God has made for you, it simply won't work...which is why alot of the world is in chaos now and the divorce rate is around 40%. I don't know about you but I like the fact that I don't have to always be in charge all the time; it's a huge job which is one of the reasons alot of ungodly marriages don't work is because Christ is not leading the husband in the huge role he has.

There are going to be times in your marriage where your husband is going to say, "No, we aren't going to ...XYor Z." It may be something you really want to do but he is firmly saying, "No." Are you going to submitt or simply believe that Christ is leading him to make this decision. As a man of God, his connection and prayer life with God is a huge factor in sustaining your marriage because there will be many times where disagreements may arise but you will have to submitt. Only a mature woman can handle this aspect of marriage and don't get me wrong, your husband is going to be some type of slaveholder saying 'no' everytime you turn around. A true man of God is going to have the right type of balance between being tender and firm when necessary.