Are You Leading Your Family Toward or Away from God?

“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”—Joshua 24:15

Your home is your first pulpit. Before your kids hear a sermon, they watch your life. Before they ever open a Bible, they read you. And whether you realize it or not, you are setting the spiritual thermostat for your house. The only question is—are you heating it up with the fire of faith or freezing it out with spiritual passivity?

Today, men who lead their families in worshiping God publicly overwhelmingly find that their wives and children follow them. One study reports:

“If a child is the first person in a household to become a Christian, there is a 3.5% probability the rest of the family will follow. If the mother is first, there’s a 17% chance. But if the father is first, there’s a 93% probability everyone else will follow.” (1)

The question isn’t if you’re leading—it’s where you’re leading them. Toward God, or away from Him? You can give your family the best of everything—house, school, sports, success—but if you’re not pointing them to Jesus, you’re building your house on sand. Psalm 127:1 says it straight: “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”

When you’re leading without God, your stress leaks into your home. You’re tired, anxious, and irritable. Your family feels it. You’re physically present but spiritually absent. You don’t mean to be the problem—but you become it. That’s not leadership; that’s collapse.

Fathers, don’t bring home your burdens—come home and be a blessing. Lead your family in worship. Choose church over comfort. Choose Scripture over screens. Set the culture of joy, peace, and purpose by living as a son of your Heavenly Father. Because kids don’t just copy what you say—they copy who you are.

What’s one change you can make this week to lead your family in putting God first—starting with your own example?

(1) https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/want-your-church-to-grow-then-bring-in-the-men/

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