The Home

FOR IF A MAN OR WOMAN KNOWS NOT HOW TO RULE HIS OR HER OWN HOUSE,HOW SHALL HE OR SHE TAKE CARE OF THE CHURCH OF GOD?So, husband and wife, father and mother, or one without the other in God’sprovidence, if you decide with God’s blessing to have children and to make a HOME,then that becomes your primary priority, and you must do it right. You must structurethe home by biblical standards, and enforce them, in loving and disciplinary ways asChristians with the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit.That Christian home must be ruled by the Holy Spirit. Our Lord Jesus Christ must bethe HEAD OF THE HOUSEHOLD-HOME! No exceptions, no compromises, and sinceyour hand found that to do:DO IT WITH ALL OF YOUR MIGHT!A real Christian home requires two real Christian parents, both mother and father asstrong believers in Jesus Christ. One without the other is simply not enough, for onebeliever parent and one non-believer parent produce:A HOUSE DIVIDED!No real Christian home, effective, meaningful, and lasting can ever be truly andthoroughly Christian, but compromised at the top, if one parent is a non-believer.The first priority for Christian parenting and the making-structuring of the Christianhome is the investment of:TIME.Adequate, qualitative and quantitative, LOVING time must be invested in the buildingof the Chrisitan home and is critical for maintaining those noble and ethicalstandards. The more time the better. Regular FAMILY TOGETHERNESS should bescheduled. David sought the face of the Lord three times daily, morning, noon, andevening. Perhaps the modern, busy, cellphone-age family should do the same.The best quality time should be spent at home, in the home. That time should includeone-on-one time, father and son and daughter, and mother and son and daughter. Itneed not be long, says Paul, but qualitative. It should be real time, where both parentand child desire to be with each other one-on-one.The second priority is to train up that child in the way in which he or she should goso that when they are mature, on their own, making a difference in society, the Christof Glory is #1 in their lives. That includes the full sharing of the beliefs of the parentsso that the child knows the strong faith, hope, and love of the parent for Jesus Christand for the family which he has blessed all members with. Each parent shares faithand belief and each child shares faith and belief. There is mutuality in dialogue,discourse, and discussion. Lecturing and sermonizing accomplish little in this day andage. Sharing MUTUALITY is critical. That builds respect and appreciation for EVERYMEMBER OF THE FAMILY.The third parental responsibility and duty is to:LISTEN.Really listen to everything said, shared, confessed, to every word of every member.There comes the inevitable family battle between:LISTENING v. LECTURING.Far too many parents are too good at lecturing (do what I say and not necessarily as Ido) and poor at listening or not at all. Nothing turns off a child or a spouse, nothingshows disrespect for that individual like not listening, NOTHING!The fourth priority in building a strong Christian home is that of:DIALOGUE.Parents should encourage children to speak, share, be open and unafraid to sharetheir deepest thoughts, feelings, and:DOUBTS.Especially spiritual-religious-Christian doubts, or any serious questions they may haveabout the faith. No comment, no word, no thought from any family member shouldever be disparaged, NEVER! Nothing and no individual should ever be ridiculed,criticized, or presented with real negative disrespectful reactions or responses.Everything said and shared should be respected and respectfully dialogued with.The fifth priority of building and maintaining a Christian HOME is that of:TRANSPARENCY.Every member of the family circle should be open and feel confident in sharing theirmost intimate and deeply felt thoughts and feelings. When the family meets to discussanything, spiritual or secular, Christian or cultural, anything from the head or heartgoes, ANYTHING! Anything deeply felt and not shared finds out elsewhere in thesecular, anti-Christian culture of today, or even acting out against the parents inharmful ways. Nothing prevents criminality or anti-social behavior, including theillegal and overuse of alcohol and drugs, than parental openness and lovingtransparency.The sixth priority of a home, a Christian and biblical home, is that it be:TRUTHFUL.Every member of the household must fully and confidently believe that their Christianhome stands for:THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH.The cardinal rule for any parent or child is that both parent and child should:NEVER LIE.NEVER. Nothing destroys love and respect more than a lie.The seventh priority of any permanent Christian HOME is that its biblical standardsshould never be compromised. If they are, in any way, there should be confession,openly admitting wrongdoing, apologizing with the vow that those standards will neverbe broken again to the best of the offender’s ability.The eighth most important priority in a Christian home is to:BUILD BOLDNESS.So that, every member of the Christian household, each parent and every child, shouldbe:UNASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.Standing for the faith, witnessing of that faith, never apologizing for strong Christianfaith, uncompromised in every way.The building, the establishment, and perhaps most importantly, the maintaining of aChristian home with its biblical and Christ-like standards, loving to the core is aconstant challenge, demanding the very best of each of the home members, requiringtime, effort, planning, and prioritizing in every way possible, so that as parents matureand LEARN (they must), and children are trained up in the way in which they shouldgo:NO MEMBER OF THE FAMILY WILL DEPARTFROM THE CHRISTIAN FAITH THEREIN!