Sinfully Delicious

Chapter 3

"And why did Jesus do this?" Bishop Jackson stood in front of the Bible class. "Does anyone know?" No one answered and he chuckled. "That's okay. Jesus did this to show us that we shouldn't be afraid to go into those dangerous places. We cannot turn our backs on those in need of God's saving due to fear. We must look fear in the face. We must be able to look the devil in his face and tell him that he will not stand in between God and his people. With the strength and faith of God we will be able to step foot into these places. We will be able to save those that need it."

"Amen." Every Thursday, Bishop Jackson held a men's Bible study. While there was a Bible study opened to all, he and the First Lady had decided that having these separate studies would help with the overall strength of families. They believed that each family needed a good head and if the head was sick then so was the family. "No, gentlemen. I say that to say this, as heads and future heads of your families, there will be times of fear. There will be times that the devil will put your worst fear in front of you. We must be able to fight it, because without us, the family crumbles. God made us to protect and to be able to protect, we need to have full strength in God. We must not be moved by temptation." The men nodded. "Good." One young man raised his hand. "Yes, Brother Mitchell?"

"Bishop, if we are to be the head of the family, why is it that the women are being told that we're not important?" Some other men asked in agreement.

"We allowed that to happen."

"What do you mean by that?"

"We as men allowed our pride to get in the way of things. We are so obsessed with getting women to respect us that we completely forgot that we are the reason that they don't anymore. The Bible says that men were created first and we're the head of the household. However, just because we're the head doesn't mean we're the foundation. Women are the foundation of life. Without them there would be no us.
We are meant to protect them so they can bring forth and nurture life. We let our pride as the head forget what we're meant to be the head of." Another young man raised his hand. "Yes?"

"But how are we supposed to be the head of the family if they have already made up in their minds they don't need us?"

"Because we've made it to where they don't. We left the women and children alone and they were forced to create a new family. This has been practiced for so long that they've found safety and comfort. We are supposed to be that for them but at that, we've failed. We created the situation that inevitably caused for them not to need us."

"How do we fix that?"

"First we have to meet them where they are. We have to learn to respect and understand them. We have to break the cycle. We have to change the mindset. They've been conditioned to believe that we will hurt them no matter what, we have to let them know that we're there for them. That they're safe with us. Treat any woman you meet the way you would want someone to treat your daughters. Would you want your daughters to be knocked up and left alone, or beaten." They shook their heads. "Then don't do that to the women." Bishop looked at his watch. "We are out of time for tonight." The men closed the Bibles and notebooks. "We'll cover more of this topic at our gentleman's brunch. Let us all join hands."

All of the men stood up and grabbed another's hand. "Be strong in God. Have faith. Stay vigilant. May heaven smile upon you and May God continue to bless you. Amen."

"Amen." All the men repeated.

"Now get home. I don't want any angry wives in my congregation on Sunday." They laughed and went gather their things. "Wait! Did everyone do what I assigned?" They nodded. "A good gift, not just some flowers or a card?" They nodded. "Good. We'll do the same next week. Good night." Bishop gathered up his things as the men left out.