Don't Leave Your Family Open To Spiritual Attack | 1 Samuel 31:7-10

When leaders step back, the enemy always steps in—don’t leave your family vulnerable to spiritual attack.

King Saul is dead. An arrow wounded him, and he took his life by falling on his own sword. Then this happened in 1 Samuel 31:7-10:

And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them. The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. So they cut off his head and stripped off his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people. They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. — 1 Samuel 31:7-10

The fall of Saul was a catastrophic failure of leadership. The nation's first leader, chosen and anointed by God, was now lying dead, with his sons slain by him, and enemies were desecrating his body and legacy. In addition, the Philistines wasted no time capitalizing on his defeat. They cut off his head, stripped his body, paraded his armor as a trophy, and hung his remains in public humiliation. Nearby Israelites, seeing their king crushed, fled their homes, leaving entire cities to be occupied by the enemy.

This should be a sober reminder of the importance of leadership and the consequences of its failure. Saul's perpetual disobedience and downward spiral left a devastating wake on everyone and humiliated the nation, and the enemy seized the opportunity to mock, defile, and advance their cause.

While this was a catastrophic illustration, we see shadows of this type of failure today. One is the breakdown of spiritual leadership in the home.

Speaking directly to the believing men listening today, when you, as a husband and father, neglect your God-given role to lead in the home, you leave yourself and your family vulnerable. Then, your wife and your children grow up without a strong spiritual foundation, leaving them susceptible to the enemy’s lies about identity, purpose, and truth. It's not the church's responsibility to spiritually raise your family. It's your responsibility. Your passivity to obedience to God has the same effect as Saul's lack of spiritual leadership and disobedience to his family. This might be a graphic picture, but it is the truth. Someone is always discipling your family. If it's not you, it's Netflix, Disney, TikTok, and Snapchat, and they are very good at discipling your family. Then, one day, you look up to realize your family no longer believes in God; in addition, they act in defiance of God. Now you like Israel are looking at the devastation on Mount Gilboa.

When we step back, the enemy steps in.

Don't step back today! Step in! Step into spiritual leadership in your home, workplace, and community. One spiritual leader can make a home, workplace, church, and nation different forever.

#LeadershipMatters #ObedienceToGod #FaithfulMen

Ask This:
Where are you most tempted to neglect spiritual leadership in your life?
What would it take to step up today?
Do This:
Step in and step up in one place and one way today.

Pray This:
Father, help me to lead with integrity and faithfulness. Protect those I lead from the consequences of my failures, and guide me to always depend on You. Amen.

Play This:
War.