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The Blessedness
of a Christian Home
Two lengthy passages should be read as the introduction to
this lesson: Genesis 2:18-25 and Matthew 19:1-8. Both are
specifically emphatic regarding the subject under
consideration and provide the Biblical foundation for the
conclusions we must accept.
There are so many problems
in marriages and homes today. There is so much failure and
unhappiness. As one sees the domestic scene being subjected to
divorce, delinquency, strife and tensions one is provoked to
ask, “Does it have to be this way? Is this what marriage and
the home really is?” The answer is emphatically NO,
and it was never intended to be that way. There is the
alternative if people would pay attention to the Lord.
It Begins
A Christian home
begins when two people, a Christian man and a Christian woman, who love the Lord and each other, enter
into the sacred covenant relationship before God and society
as husband and wife. This home continues as they live life in
the imitation of Christ. We are mindful of homes that consist
of other relationships, such as a home of brothers and/or
sisters living in the same domicile, extended families of
grandparents, aunts, uncles and others where the will of
Christ prevails. These are also Christian homes. Our prime
focus is on homes that involve marriage.
Malachi 2:14 speaks of the
wife of thy covenant. There is a covenant made not only
between a man and a woman, but it also involves God. While
some contend marriage only involves two, how does one remove
the Originator and Governor of marriage from the covenant and
expect the marriage to be what it ought to be? The
fallacy in the thinking of too many is that they have left out
God. Marriage is more than a civil, legal and social contract.
It is a divine covenant that binds a divinely determined
relationship with divinely appointed purposes.
Universal
Laws
The law of God concerning
marriage applies to everyone whether they are Christians or
not. If this is not true then all marriages where Christians
are not involved would be meaningless, children would not be
born within a legitimate relationship, and such sins as
adultery and fornication would not really be sins since no law
would be violated. But the law of God governs marriage and has
done so long before the religion of Christ was brought into
the world. It began in Eden.
Marriage must be entered
with the determination that it is a permanent and lifelong
relationship (Romans 7:2,3; First Corinthians 7:39).
Regardless of health, problems, poverty, abundance, age or
whatever, the vow to stay faithful one to the other “till
death do us part” is just exactly what God expects. Once a
woman said she wanted to divorce her husband because she did
not love him anymore. She was rightly asked, “What does that
have to do with the vow and commitment God expects you to
keep?” This is the kind of determination one must have upon
entrance into marriage. It is for better or worse, richer or
poorer, sickness or health, until death.
Divine
Origin
God is the giver of
marriage as our texts reveal. The first home consisted of Adam
and Eve, not John and Joe, or Mary and Sue. God performed, as
it were, the first “marriage ceremony” because He brought
the two together, which a ceremony does. What God has joined
together should not be put asunder (Matthew 19:6).
Understanding this teaching is not difficult. Abiding by it
gives some people trouble. It is because they are not
respectful of the will of the Lord.
A Christian home is where
each puts his or her mate before all else, everyone except the
Lord. When one does put the Lord first in life he or she will
put his or her mate before everyone else, including in-laws,
friends, neighbors, children, whoever. The teaching of God is
to “leave..., and cleave” (Matthew 19:5). The two
become united and compose a team of godly togetherness. They
are as the title of a song suggests, Me and You Against the
World. It is a case of forsaking all others and keeping
oneself to the mate as long as both shall live. Loyalty to
one’s mate is paramount in the marriage and home as God
would have it be.
The Christian marriage and
home is where there exists a relationship of trust, loyalty,
faithfulness, and confidence. Such relationship produces
immeasurable blessings. Proverbs thirty-one speaks how “the
heart of her husband doth safely trust in her” and “she
will do him good.” To have a good wife is a favor from
God (Proverbs 18:22). “A prudent wife is from the Lord”
(Proverbs 19:14). There should be kindness, forbearance,
cooperation, consideration and longsuffering. It is no longer
“me, my, and mine,” but “we, us, and ours” in all
things.
Count the
Cost
The Christian home is
composed of two who have counted the cost, who are willing to
pay the price, and who will reap the benefits from God. It is
where love not only exists but is expressed. It is where you
know you belong and are accepted and loved. The Christian home
is where human ties of love and compassion are at their best.
This does not mean perfection, but each one seeks the
other’s highest good. That is what love does.
The relationship of husband
and wife is sacred and is used by the Holy Spirit to depict
the tie that exists between Christ and His church. He is to
love his wife as Christ loved the church and she is to
reverence her husband as the church does Christ (Ephesians 5).
What a blessed influence a
Christian home has on children born into such a home! It was
said of Abraham, Genesis 18:19, “For I know him that he
will command his children and his household after him, and
they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and
judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he
hath spoken of him.” Ephesians 6:1-4 and Proverbs 22:6
both place heavy responsibilities on parents to rear their
children the way God wants them to be reared. To know why
children are they way they are, whether good or evil, consider
the home from which they come. The home is a laboratory where
children are molded and formed into adults, either to God’s
glory or to reproach. The home is where Christianity is seen
by the young eyes as they live day by day. In the Christian
home they see selflessness, honesty, sacrifice for the right,
morality, honor, the dignity of labor, purity of speech,
respect for others, entertainment and recreation compatible
with living for God. They learn to spend and be spent for the
cause of righteousness. They are taught to respect God and His
will and respect authorities and rules. They learn to discern
between good and evil and have love for the church.
Precious
Memories
Christian homes provide
godly memories that serve throughout life. The inhabitants are
provided strength and a rich and righteous heritage, something
to live by and for, a recognition of mission and purpose in
life, goals and aspirations that lead toward heaven. In such a
home the child is taught duty, responsibility, and cultivates
self-respect as well as respect for others and given the
pattern to follow in life. Blessed in that person who has had
the privilege of being reared in a Christian home!
The Christian home is
concerned for the spiritual salvation of every member of it.
We should often consider Noah. He lived in such wicked times,
even to the extent that God determined to destroy the world by
the flood. But Noah was a righteous man and he was at least
able to save his own family. Will we do as much? He found
grace in the sight of God (Genesis 6:8). We can do that also
if we will walk with God like he did. In the Christian home
each person is taught to love God, obey the gospel, serve
faithfully in His kingdom. He learns to worship, being a
righteous steward of all that comes within his power. He
gleans knowledge from the Word that is the light and guide of
the home. The primary goal in any marriage and any home that
is pleasing to God is to help each other get to heaven.
A Christian home
contributes to a good mental, emotional and physical welfare
also. Such homes are free from the undue strife, tension,
hate, competition and pressures that can and do destroy good
health in these areas. A Christian home is composed of people
who follow the way of the Lord and learn how to cope with
whatever life brings. There is always the source of hope,
comfort, assurance of ultimate victory and providence of God.
Happy homes produce happy people. The home ought to be a haven
in the midst of the storm of life; an isle of refuge. In the
home one should expect help, encouragement, advice and
consolation from those who love most. A Christian home is a
relationship that is the nearest to heaven this world affords.
Basic Unit
The home is the basic unit
of society. From homes come all teachers, government leaders,
businessmen, preachers, merchants, everyone. From the home
comes the standards of morality of the nation. The stream will
not rise higher than its spring, nor shall the land be purer
than its source. Society reflects the condition of the home.
There are so many social problems on the national level in
America. The answer to our problems is Christ and homes
produced by the way of Christ.
There are many people in
the world who have the distorted idea that unless they can
“do some great thing,” meaning something that brings
attention and public acclaim, they are not doing much of
significance. That is a false view. There is no more
productive and far reaching contribution to the good of
mankind both in this life and the next than to establish and
maintain a Christian home where the Lord reigns supreme and
all members of the home lovingly seek His will and the
spiritual salvation of each other.
Each of us can have this
quality home. It begins with becoming a Christian and
continues by being a faithful Christian. It is up to each one
to do his or her part, father, mother, child, or whatever
other relationship one has toward other members of the family,
and to see that they are what they ought to be, and together
live in, benefit from, and perpetuate in the home the will of
Christ. May we never be satisfied with anything less.
STUDY QUESTIONS
- How is a Christian home established?
- To whom do the laws of Christ regarding marriage apply?
- What is the origin of the home?
- How does the origin of the home affect your evaluation of its
importance?
- Discuss the blessings of a Christian home to children as well as
parents.
- With whom does the
responsibility for having a Christian home begin?
- May a home be a Christian
home without perfection?
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of Contents
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