Relationships - Christian Home: November 10, 2011

NOVEMBER 10 2011. TODAYS WORD FOR THURSDAY NOVEMBER 10, 2011.

RELATIONSHIPS: CHRISTIAN HOME

DEFINITION:

A location where a family resides and from where they communicate to one another and to God. A safe shelter where one’s domestic affections are centered and where one feels loved and cared for.

SCRIPTURE:

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15.

Blessed are those who dwell in Your house. Psalm 84:3-4.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

We are concerned today that we do not see very many truly Christian homes. When believers think of their home they talk about their heavenly home. But in this series of devotionals, we are talking about relationships and families and what we need to understand to have a truly Christian home.

In Colossians 3: 18 to 21 we have the words of the Apostle Paul instructing us concerning the roles of wives, husbands, children, fathers and mothers in a Christian home.

Briefly, Paul says husbands are to love their wives with a sacrificial love and be the spiritual leader, and wives are to respect the leadership role of their husbands. Children must then obey their parents. Parents must care and love their children and not cause them to be bitter. There is a shared responsibility within a family to love one another and to work together, to be kind and fair to one another, and to submit in obedience. The foundation for a Christian home is reverence for the Lord and obedience to His Word.

And in verse 23 it reads: “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance”.

As far back as we can remember, our parents taught us in our homes to love God and to honor our parents and our grandparents. We then taught our children, in our home, the same and now we are blessed to watch our children teach their children the same. When standards are set with firmness, love and with consistency they will be handed down from generation to generation, but only if God is always in the center of the family.

Children look to their parents to be their role models and their example. Setting the right example is the role of the parents, not the church, not the school and most definitely not their peers.

One of our joys in life was to watch when each of our children made their decision to put Jesus in the center of their life. And now we have the thrill from time to time to receive a phone call from a grandchild telling us that they have just invited Jesus into their heart.

A child needs to learn that they have boundaries in life and these need to be taught in our homes when children are at an early age. Some call this having “gates” and “walls”. Ancient cities all had walls to protect them from the enemy. When these boundaries have been set, then parents MUST BE CONSISTENT in monitoring them and responding when the child goes beyond the set boundaries. Children need to be warned about the enemies in life and to understand that boundaries are there to protect them.

A great concern that we see today is that parents are afraid to say “NO”. They seem to be fearful that children will stop loving them and turn against them. In many cases the parents just do not want to deal with the issue at hand. In most cases the bond between children and their parents is strengthened if boundaries are set reasonably, clearly, firmly and in love. Children need to know that parents care enough about their safety and future to do something that shows that it is not just words. The result will be a deeper love between children and parents.

We have also learned that as parents we needed to train a child to have self control. Children need to learn how to listen so that they can learn.
A parent needs to love children equally and if a parent shows favoritism to one child over another it will have a damaging affect on the whole family. Every child wants unconditional acceptance and never outgrows that desire. Every child also needs to be trained to know the independent side of dependence --- within the established set boundaries. Remember, every person can make a contribution in life and parents need to encourage positive abilities.

A home and a family can disintegrate as a result of:

• A preoccupation with an occupation (such as a job, sports, hobby and television) to the exclusion of family needs.
• Refusal to face the severity of a child’s actions.
• Refusal to respond quickly and thoroughly to the warning of others.
• Rationalizing of a wrong therefore becoming part of the problem.
• Having an insensitive spouse which always leaves unknown heartaches.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Hebrews 9:27.

And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.

PRAYER:

Lord, help each one of us in our family to live by the instruction You have given us concerning the role we have in the family. May our home be saturated with Your love. As a family that believes in You may our God-given standards and boundaries always be honored so that others can see Christ through us.