Fathers Know Best! How to Make Your Dad Happy (For Real) on Father's Day

Steve Alessi  

Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Family Business with the Alessis. And today we are actually talking business here, at the farm in Georgia, with Armando and I. And we are talking about things, specifically, that we don't get to talk about on Sunday. Partly because of the crowd, we don't always know everybody to this degree, to where we could go deep. And we want to be as sensitive as possible when we are doing our business on Sunday. But today, it's nice, because we are actually up at our Goodfellas camp. So, we got our gear going here. And, how many men we have with the system?

Armando Gomez  

We have 11, excuse me, 11 men participating, and we have 12, or 13, leaders helping out. So it's a great group.

Steve Alessi  

So, 27 guys that are hanging out up at the farm, here in Georgia. And we're recording this right around Father's Day season. And so, if you don't mind, forgive us if we're leaning a little towards the men in our comments, because it's right around Father's Day. And it's also, we're surrounded by a bunch of guys, and we miss our wives. We definitely want to be home soon. 

But we want to talk about a subject that I think could be helpful, because it's for both, okay, it's for humanity in general, people in general. Especially, Armando, as we start piling up the winds in our lives, there's what we refer to as the three G's, that you just don't touch, if you are going to continue your rise in being success, and walking in all of God's best for your life. And I've heard of these three G's, they actually came from my dad, my dad heard of them from somebody, back when he was a young man. 

And then he shared them with me, back when I was just a young man, and the AC just came on. So, we're going to turn that baby off. So we don't let it make too much noise in the air. But, I've heard about these three G's for some time, and we've mentioned them from time to time to some of our guys. 

Armando Gomez  

Yes.

Steve Alessi  

And they have responded, they take it to heart. But I've heard that they don't always understand all of them, they got two of them down. They just don't understand the third. So, here's what the three G's are. If you're going to continue to live in a level of prosperity and blessings in your life, there's three things you just do not touch, especially in our line of work. Ready? Say them with me.

Armando Gomez  

The gold. 

Steve Alessi  

The gold. 

Armando Gomez  

The glory. 

Steve Alessi  

The glory. 

Armando Gomez  

And... 

Steve Alessi  

Say it. 

Armando Gomez  

The girls.

Steve Alessi  

Now, if a woman's watching this, here's what you don't touch: The gold, glory, or the guys. 

Armando Gomez  

That's good. 

Steve Alessi  

The three G's. Now, we say you don't touch it, of course, meaning you don't embrace it. You don't let these things become part of your world. Because what you're saying is, the gold belongs to who? 

Armando Gomez  

God.

Steve Alessi  

All the gold belongs to the Lord. The glory is the Lord's. We are where we are because of God. And of course, the girls, or the guys, they— if you're married, especially, you don't touch someone else's girl or guy. 

Armando Gomez  

That's right. 

Steve Alessi  

That's not your deal. Because that, right there, would cause a major blow up in any area of your life, if you're touching those three G's. What does that mean to you, Armando?

Unknown Speaker  

Well, Pastor, you've always explained it, many, many times over the years. And you always said, "Okay, you may—" your time here, at Metro, at church, or whatever organization, you are always at that organization, but I've always taken it to any organization that I was. 

Steve Alessi  

Sure. 

Armando Gomez  

Someone may disagree with something you do in management, or a decision that you make, or something like that. You've always said, "Well, you might have a disagreement with me, or you might not like that I did this, or I did that. But I'm always going to avoid these areas of moral failure that trip up and destroy." We've seen it throughout the Bible, too, where it was either the gold, that wasn't theirs, the glory, which was all God's, or the girls, women that did not belong to them. 

So, you've always said, "There's three G's that I'm going to focus on. And I won't fail you in these." And that's, that's been easy, at least for me, as a man, to understand. And I think all of our Goodfellas feel this way. We like to focus, we like to take a few things, and just, "Okay, I can be good at this." Because we're not perfect. So, if I have a little slip-up here, where, you know, maybe I bang my finger with a hammer, and a word came out that I was used to saying back in the day, or some other little thing like that, we want to try to control those the best we can, but there are three things that we're never going to do. 

If I'm, ever, at any point in time, a part of the offering at church, and I'm moving envelopes here and there, whatever. Those G's are in my head. There is not a penny that I find on the ground at Metro Life do I put in my pocket. That's God's. The glory, I start feeling really good about myself, and, wow, you know, I preached a message, or I taught the youth or whatever went really, really well at the church. And I start getting big-headed, because I'm getting compliments. And people are saying, "Wow, you're awesome." "Hey, you said something that I don't even think Pastor Steve would have said," I've actually heard that, over 25 years, I've been a church. 

I can't let that stuff get to my head. "Well, you're such a great this," husband or whatever. That I just got to say, "You know what? Thank you. Praise God, because he gives me the strength to do so." And the girls, were one girl, man. We're married. That's our girl. So, what it means to me is, focus. I'm able to focus on three areas that have tripped up— That trip up pretty much every man that ever falls completely, one of those three is attached. We're not going to do those.

Steve Alessi  

You may be hearing some noise in the background here. That's because all our guys are running around, and we're doing some work. So, don't let the interruption interrupt what we're talking about today. You know, the aspect of those three G's, they're very subtle. It's not something that you're running around. The enemy just knows, you're not running around, and, "Oh, there it is," you're going to stumble over it, you know? There it is, watch out, you're going to trip up and fall. 

No, they're very subtle. And they come at you, especially as you start to put together wins. Right now, when we were small, the G's didn't matter. Because we had nothing to be prideful about. We didn't have the financial resources. So we couldn't do anything there. And you know, we weren't really attractive. Because we were getting our, our sea legs about us, we were trying to figure out how to build this thing, how to grow the church, and our business. 

So, it wasn't that appealing. There was always somebody better that was more attractive, that was faster, building it faster, bigger, so we didn't have to worry about those things. 

But, I remember, time and time again, gosh, the allure as success starts to come. Now, all of a sudden, you realize, okay, this is where the weed could come in and mess up your— everything that you've ever planted in your life. Because those three G's, it's common to every person, male, female, the more of the financial resources that now you have, it becomes very easy. Money talks.

Armando Gomez  

Oh, yes. It does. 

Steve Alessi  

Money talks? 

Armando Gomez  

Yes, it does.

Steve Alessi  

And, you know, in our case, we have a board that is around, that I surround myself with, we have a bookkeeping office that I'm very transparent, when he opens, I keep his door open, so I can go in, and my conversations about certain things that need to be paid, and certain places to put our money. If it looks like any of it would be self-serving, I've got to make sure that I'm doing it loud enough for whoever is next door in the office to know about, because if I'm trying to hide something, then that's meaning that gold is saying, "Hey, why don't you put a little over here?" 

Armando Gomez  

Over there. 

Steve Alessi  

You know, I remember when I was young, starting the church, learning the biggest lesson about finances. And that was— that lesson was, who's going to be your provider? Who's going to take care of this ministry? And in our line of work, it's very easy, please forgive me for saying it like this, but, I think businessmen understand this as well, and businesswomen. When you're dealing with people that have had financial resources after a while, it's easy to see a dollar sign, right here on the forehead. 

It's easy to see, "Okay, that person brings this much money to the table, that person brings this much influence, financially, to my organization." And if you're not careful, you could start leaning into that person, because you think you need to take care of them. Well, it was like, one moment that I had when I was younger, starting the church, and I was in the shower. And I was struggling with a certain individual that was in the church that I felt like I just needed to be honest with them. And I was afraid that, if I was honest, I might lose them. 

Because they were going through something, and they needed some good counsel. And I remember the Lord, while I was in the shower, saying, "All right, so what if they leave? Who's going to pay your bills?" And anytime the Lord stirs up a question like that, in me, it's very self-serving on God's part. Because He's the one with the answer. And He's really referring to Himself. And so, when I sat there, I said, "Lord, if they do leave, You're going to pay the bills, You're going to bring the financial resources, and You're the one that's going to take care of it." 

So, you know, I take that trust test quite a bit, where I have to go back and say, "God, You're the provider, not this individual." So, I don't go looking at people with dollar signs on their forehead, and I don't try to give a favoritism to people. I'm very sensitive about that. I don't ever want that to be the case. Because money can never rule. That's what we do. So, gold, the G of gold, has to be put in its place. God is our provider, not man. And God's the one who has all the gold, and all the silver. It all belongs to Him. So, I can't touch it. I get my share. You get your share. But it belongs to the Lord, and the work of God.

Armando Gomez  

And I think it's important you said, money can tend to rule. I think it's good to know that money wants to rule. And the Bible says, and I know everyone watches this podcast, but the Word of God says, in a little g, there's a little g, god. Mammon, this little g, god wants to be your Lord. So, not only people, your bills talk, your own account talks. I can't tell you how many decisions that I've made. I'm a money guy, I like thinking in math terms. And it could be a wonderful idea that my wife throws out at me, and she's not even meaning like, tomorrow or next week. She's just like dreaming. 

And I'll be, "Well, you know, we'll have to... Yeah, that sounds pretty good." "Baby, you're just saying that." "Well, no, I mean, how are we going to? How are we going to do that?" Because money is already talking in my mind and started saying, "Wow, that is a fantastic idea. One day, we will do that. And let's just pray for the resources and see how that God works that out for us." But since we live in such a practical world, I mean, we're in the world, we're just supposed to not be of it. 

I tend to get off it, sometimes, when I'm looking at the financial number, because we know the number, those of us who run the books in our own house, we know the number. So, it wants to rule. That god of money wants to rule your life, just to keep you limited. That's it.

Steve Alessi  

Hey, some of the guys won't make this trip. 

Armando Gomez  

Some of the guys didn't. 

Steve Alessi  

They won't make this trip, because they can't take time away from their job. They could, but they in their mind they want, because of a business deal that's being done. And they feel like, "oh my gosh, these couple of days, I just can't miss it." So they let the gold dictate what would be a spiritual event.

Armando Gomez  

One of the most intense. 

Steve Alessi  

Intense spiritual events that will so set them up for greater success in the future, but they don't see it, because the gold begins to talk to him. So, we're not just talking about putting gold in our pocket, and stealing, we're talking about, you don't touch it when it comes to you making important decisions for your life. Don't let it talk to you. 

Armando Gomez  

That's really good. 

Steve Alessi  

Okay, here's the other one. The Glory, 

Armando Gomez  

The Glory.

Steve Alessi  

What does that mean, now? Okay, because, I mean, if you go and look in the Bible, there's a place where it's called the Ark of the Covenant. So, the Ark of the Covenant was established, and it represented the presence of God. So, that ark, wherever it went, flourished. But there was one thing that you could not do. And that was, you could not physically touch the ark, even the carriers, maneuver it, there were poles that were put in place where rings were on the side of it. So, they put these poles. 

Well, one day, they're transporting it on the back of a donkey cart, and they hit a bump, and the thing starts to fall out of the cart, and a couple of guys go to touch it. And as soon as they touched it, boom, they die. 

Armando Gomez  

Done. 

Steve Alessi  

Because the pattern is, don't touch the glory of God. David, in the Bible, is afraid of that. He sends it to a city. And that thing sits in a guy's house. Everything in that guy's house prosper. 

Armando Gomez  

Everything. 

Steve Alessi  

The fields started to bloom, man.

Armando Gomez  

The desert start to grow.

Steve Alessi  

The harvest is overwhelming. His animals are fertile, his wine, everything, his kids, his wife, everything is beautiful because of the presence of the Lord being in his home, all right? And, actually, David is like, "Hey, where's the place? Where's the Ark?" Because David was afraid, after what happened, with someone dying. 

Armando Gomez  

I would be, too.

Steve Alessi  

Yes, I would be, too. And so, they say to him, "Hey, well, it's over at Joe's house, you know?" And they're like, "What do you mean?" "Yeah, everything in Joe's life is great right now." And David's like, "You know what? I need to get that Ark back to Israel." And it's a beautiful story of how he gets it transported. But the Ark represents the glory of the God, the glory of the Lord. And the point there is, you don't touch the glory of God, you don't touch. You don't take credit. You don't take credit. 

Armando Gomez  

That's right. 

Steve Alessi  

For what God is doing in your life.

Armando Gomez  

And how could we take credit? Like, if we slow down, and think about it, the very breath that we breathe is provided by Him. Every single time we breathe in, we're taking oxygen in that He created in this beautiful world. And I think about that story. And I think two things: One, that guy, or two guys, that went to hold the Ark had great intentions. Let me not let the Ark fall, it could have been respectful. Like, we're going to hold this thing up. But it doesn't matter what the intention is, if it's God's glory, don't touch it. 

The second thing that came to mind was, if you're being worshiped, ask a question. If you're being respected, and honored and all that is nice, you're respected, you're honored, you're you're taking care of, people love you. Probably because you've sowed, you've sowed a lot, you have a harvest, people that follow in our church, it happens in our families, in our lives. But if you're being worshiped, and some people like that in the society right now, but that's the time you want to ask the question, "Am I taking on some glory that isn't mine?" 

Because the fact of the matter is that God owns it all, created it all, and can take it all. And He doesn't, thank God. But we have to be able to give Him that praise. I think us praising God is more for us than it is for Him. Because He knows He's God. He's got angelic hosts all over. He's surrounded by praise. It says, if we don't, the rocks will, in the Bible. The rocks are going to cry out. So, He already has what He needs. 

I think he's just trying to make sure that we understand that, for our life, if we put Him first, and give Him the glory for it all, that's how we're going to live the best life that we can live.

Steve Alessi  

Yeah, and you know, the rocks already are doing that. Just go visit the Grand Canyon. 

Armando Gomez  

Wow, that's true. 

Steve Alessi  

Go see the Niagara Falls. You sit there, and you realize, "Wow, that's all God." 

Armando Gomez  

They're praising God. 

Steve Alessi  

Praising God, nonstop. What that says to us, especially if you're trying to run a business, you're running an organization, you're managing people, and their success, again, when there's no success, it's not a big deal. But it's very tempting to start thinking to yourself, "Look what I've done." And I liked that you said, you know, it's okay to be complimented. It's okay to get that nice little plaque, that recognition by your peers, for the success that you're able to enjoy. 

But the moment you start taking the credit for all of it, as though it is your doing, though it is you're doing, you find yourself, man, pride cometh before a fall. And I'm not the guy that always likes to talk about myself. I like to share about what I'm doing. But I'm not really bright enough, and talented enough, to see the level of success that we get to enjoy, even when we come up here, with these guys, man. And we go home after spending three days with them, and the transformation that takes place. 

You, I, John Roman, behind the camera, all of the leadership that comes up here knows, this is not our doing. 

Armando Gomez  

No.

Steve Alessi  

There's no way in the world we are smart enough, talented enough, to make these things happen. 

Armando Gomez  

That's right. 

Steve Alessi  

And when I look at our business, our ministry, right now, and I say "ours," because you're involved in it, John's involved in it, when I look at what has been able to happen, it goes so much further beyond what we as individuals are capable of doing. And it's not about, "oh, I'm humbled." So, I've seen some people be very prideful in their humility.

Armando Gomez  

In their humility, yes. 

Steve Alessi  

It's not that. I mean, it's genuinely, we continually are reminded that this is not our doing. And one of the ways we do that is, you don't hear a lot of, "I, look what I've done."  We don't. We are very, "we," "we," "we." 

Armando Gomez  

That's right. 

Steve Alessi  

Okay? Intentional. 

Armando Gomez  

Yes. 

Steve Alessi  

Trained. Because there's times where we even look at some of our group leaders, who want to say, "my group, my group," or, "my ministry, my ministry," "my team, my connect group," and while we want them to take ownership, we just never want them to think that that area, can become so— it's easy to slip into pride, don't touch the glory, man. 

Armando Gomez  

That's right. 

Steve Alessi  

Don't touch it, you're part of our team. We're a team. And we have to train our younger employees that come along, because I remember feeling like, "Wow, my team," all three of us at the time, "my team and I go to the Pastor's conferences." And I was so prideful of, "my team," you know, when I'm like, three people, meanwhile, these pastors have hundreds of people on their team. 

And so, I realized, hey, it's part of youth, that we want to feel valuable, like, look what we've accomplished. But it all goes back to the Lord. And as long as we don't touch that glory, sure, be patted on the back, take your bow. Let them honor you, for what you've done. Because honor is a big deal. They do it. Honor is to be given where honor is due, but never let that residue of that get on you, to where now, you're needing to post it on social media. And look how great you are. Because you're doing this.

Armando Gomez  

Yeah, that a causes an inflated head. And it makes it really easy to understand the desire for us to be recognized, I think, is God given. We don't want to have children that we're always correcting. And not saying, "Hey, you did a great job in your room today." Or, you know, "this week, you did really great in school, good job getting that A," we want to be recognized. 

We, and one of the jokes in my house is, when they tell me, "No," when I want them to share something, and they say something, I'm like, I'm feeling, who pays the mortgage? Like, this house is not because of you. This house is because of something me and your mom were able to put together. And there's absolutely no appreciation or recognition. So, that feeling that everybody watching has of, "recognize me," think about God, who made it all. 

All He wants is that that's His, He did it. And He's not even in a selfish way. We sometimes want it in a selfish way. He just wants to be recognized, and acknowledged. And that actually opens the faucet to more, because now it's not going to make our heads big, and our bellies fat. It's all going to go back to Him, as glory. And He's like, "Oh, this person knows where it's coming from, here have some more." 

Steve Alessi  

Yeah. You know, well, He does say that in the Scripture. It says, "Just remember, when you walk into lands you didn't plow for, houses you didn't build. When you walk into that prosperity," He says, "just never forget where it came from." 

Armando Gomez  

That's good.

Steve Alessi  

That the Lord's given to us. And so, that's why we don't want to touch the glory. It's all the Lord's anyway, which then brings us to the final, third G. And again, capital G, because some will make them their God. And that is, the girls or, the gals, or for the ladies, it is the guys. 

Armando Gomez  

That's right. 

Steve Alessi  

You just don't touch that. And no, it doesn't mean we can't go up and hug them. It doesn't mean we can't shake their hands. But, it just means that, hey, I'm married, and I'm committed to my wife, and I have to, constantly, as you could see, this is very uncomfortable to talk about, maybe of all the three G's, this is the tough one. Because I don't want to become offensive to any girl, woman, or anything. But, hey, I can't play there. 

Armando Gomez  

That's right.

Steve Alessi  

We cannot play In that area, where we allow ourselves to, either physically, or emotionally, get attached to a woman that is not our wife.

Armando Gomez  

That's right. And it happens very easily. The thing is, if you see the downfall of men, in every society on Earth, in the Bible, many, many times it was connected to an outside relationship of their committed, or covenant relationship of marriage. And it doesn't let the single guys off the hook. Okay, that lady may belong to a gentleman in marriage, or you belong to your wife in marriage, but the single girl belongs to God. 

That's her husband, until she's married. So, even if you're going around, and jumping around from girl to girl, as a single man, or married man, you're robbing from somebody, you're robbing from her, and you're robbing from somebody. So, the reason it takes you out, in time, because, you know, sin tastes good for a season, right? Sorry, I know that word is... 

Steve Alessi  

That's a sin.

Armando Gomez  

And we use that word, but missing the mark, missing the goal of what you want to do in life, that usually tastes good for a season, people. People have one drink first, before they're having 10 beers a day. People try one little bit of drug, maybe prescription, before they're addicted to a drug, or they're going outside of, even prescription, and having all kinds of crazy things. So, it's always this little creeping in. And that's exactly how it'll happen with another woman or another man. 

There's this subtle— the attraction is normal, the desire to look is normal. And then, what you got to do with your head is, just turn it back to your wife, or your husband, ladies, so that you don't step outside of a covenant. If our marriage, if our togetherness, is to display our connection with God, which is what it is, that means, He says, for our relationship, don't have another God. 

That's an idol. So, literally, that other person becomes an idol in your marriage. And you're not focused on what you need to be focused on. And that's why it's a downfall. It's morally depraved. And you're going to fall.

Steve Alessi  

Yeah, any area where you're feeling convicted, and you know, deep in your heart, this is wrong to do. So, when it comes to a woman, when it comes to a guy, and you're feeling that... being drawn to them. But yet, at the other side, is the whole, devil on one side of your shoulder, and the angel on the other. If that devil is speaking to you, but that angel is also saying, "Wait, wait, wait," you know, instinctively, that that's not where you should go, then you already know, it's an [...]. 

Armando Gomez  

You know. 

Steve Alessi  

You don't play that guess. 

Armando Gomez  

Run, turn the other way. 

Steve Alessi  

And we know it's messed up. Pretty much any man dabbling in it, it's just ruined them at the highest levels, and the enemy— This is where I wish people would understand. This is so elementary, it's so schoolyard. Because the enemy does the same thing to every man. He tempts all men, and women, the same way. 

Armando Gomez  

Even Jesus, in the Bible. 

Steve Alessi  

So, you know, it's like, "Wait, this is not a big deal." But, my attraction to that individual? That's not a big deal. I mean, you're making this fantasy up, anyway, in your head, of what it would be like, and how that's going to make you feel. And it's usually for just a little moment in time. And then, when that moment is over, what you have to do to stay in that area of sin, in your heart, to quiet the voice of good, so that you could accept that wrong that you're doing? 

What you have to do, internally, to make that happen, is so much bigger, and harder, than it is for you just to say, "No, that's not for me. I know it's not going to work. It's never going to give me what I'm wanting, or what I'm tempted to think it'll give me. It's not going to take care of me, like I want." Because, hey, no girl or guy was ever meant to be your God, so, yeah, you selling your soul no more that experience, when it's really coming down to sex. 

You sell your soul for sex. And you forget that sex gets old. Just like having all that money, after a while, you're spent, it gets old, and just like you think, "Oh my gosh, I'm getting the pats on the back." That gets old, after a while. All that stuff gets old, because, you mentioned it, all those G's become little gods. 

Armando Gomez  

Yes. 

Steve Alessi  

That's why they are the three G's. They can become little gods, and no gold, no glory that you get on your own, and no girl or guy, is capable of being a guy.

Armando Gomez  

Impossible— Capable of being a god. And that's impossible. And here's what I love to say to our Goodfellas, and to anybody watching, if you are listening, and you're thinking, "Yeah, but I got this, I've been really good at that. For 20 years, I've been faithful, no big deal, I got this," you need to just think again, and always assume that it can happen to you. 

Because, I think that that's when men let their guards down. A lot of times, it's the longevity of the winds, you were just talking about it, when some victories are under your belt, and some wins are you're under your belt. In the Bible, we see people coming off amazing battle wins, things that happen that were excellent for the children of Israel, for God, God got all the glory, everything was great. 

Boom, right then, when that wind was coming down from that high, there was an attack. And a lot of times it was with women, or with manipulation, or with whatever else, the gold, the glory, and the girls. So, if you, at any point in time, you're riding high on the horse, and you're thinking, "Yeah, but not that one. I gotta watch out for the gold and the glory. But I'm good, the girls? I got my wife, I'm happy," and all that, listen, stay alert, it doesn't mean it's going to happen to you. 

But we just talked about it a little while ago. It's like, this little weed that comes into your life. It could be an innocent conversation that starts at work, didn't even have any flirting involved, then, tomorrow, or the next week, it's a little conversation, it's got a cute little comment in there. And then, another week, or another month, a movie scene, it happened, that it's taken, months or years, and all of a sudden, someone is involved, even just emotionally, not even sexually. 

They're involved with somebody else. And they're counting on a portion of their life, in someone else of the opposite sex, instead of finding a way to make that connection at their house. So, none of us are above any of the three G's wreaking havoc in our life. We just work to stay above it. But we are not immune to the attack.

Steve Alessi  

Yeah. And as pretty as it may look, because somebody may be thinking, "Well, you don't know what I live with," you know, and "look at that cute little thing, right? That's a little thing." As cute as they may look, as handsome as they may be, the feelings that you have, if you ever have to look your loved ones in the eye, all that beauty just— it's spoiled. 

It's like ripe fruit that can be spoiled rotten, when you have to now look at your kids in the eye, your wife in the eye, or your husband, and the realization of what you have done. You broke your marital vows. 

Armando Gomez  

Wow. 

Steve Alessi  

And you're going to look at your wife in the eye. And as a man, come on, how do you bring that pain to the woman that you say you love? That gave you kids? Can't touch it. So, yeah, there's temptation. We're all tempted. You know, it is. Thank You, Lord, for beautiful people, men and women, and I'm very grateful for that. I'm thankful— 

Armando Gomez  

We try to stay beautiful. 

Steve Alessi  

We really do, and we have wives that do, as well. And I would say to those listening to us, do your best to be your best for your spouse, it does pay off, especially going on 35 years of marriage. 25 years of ministry at Metro, 35 years of marriage. Life for me, and mi esposa, is better today, in those areas of our life, than— All I could say is, it just keeps it— thankfully, the fruit keeps is ripe. And, thankfully, the Lord has helped me over the years, be smart enough, and more disciplined enough, to not make that mess of touching that G. 

So, that, now on these years, I can step back and still look at my wife, wife and realize, "man, you're the wife of my youth, and I haven't messed around." And, does it mean that there wasn't thoughts? Oh my gosh. Being alone in places, and like, "Wow, nobody will ever know." And maybe she won't. But here's the thing that's always been in my heart: My wife may not know, but God would. 

Armando Gomez  

Because He does. 

Steve Alessi  

And I want him patting me on the back. I want to stand before Him, and hear Him say, "You know Steve? Well done. You did it great." I don't want to be one of those guys. I don't want you to be those guys. I don't want anybody listening to me to be one of those guys that did it so good, and then later on in life, boom. Blew it. Because they got tempted by the three G's, and they touched them.

Armando Gomez  

Yeah, and you know, Pastor, just because we know numbers and, let's be fair, you know, this happens halfway through the society, in the churches too. So, it could be someone's watching, and they're like, "Man, I already— I blew it. I already got a big head. I've already touched the gold, you know. I've already kind of thought about, or gotten a little closer than I should have to the girls." 

Listen, it's just a matter of stopping, and deciding that I'm not going to continue down that route. A lot of you've already maintained that road, you know, and that's great, and keep doing it. But we have a God, and I don't know how spiritual we want to get here. It's Metro life, so we have a God that's going to look at you and go, "Okay, listen, I'm acknowledging that you're seeing that in your life, and you're turning around," and He's going to help you in that area. 

So, maybe it's just, stop. Don't get any closer. It could be that someone's right there on the brink. It's only a cliff that you're going to fall off at that moment. So, stop, bring it back, get back to your first love. There's a reason you married her. There's a reason you married him. There's a there's a reason that you got that business deal, and things went well for you. And there's another one around the corner as long as we can stay away from these major pitfalls. And I pray all the time, Pastor, I'm not going to be one of those guys either. 28 years of marriage, now coming up, and I'm not going to do it.

Steve Alessi  

Come on, man. We don't want to be like one of those dead heads hanging on the wall. 

Armando Gomez  

We're just a mount.

Steve Alessi  

That's it. Well, I hope that you have enjoyed this episode of The Family Business with Steve Alessi, Armando Gomez, John Roman behind the camera, as we have talked about the three G's, up here, at G, Goodfellas camp. God bless.