The Ministry of Home – Season 1 Episode 1

Welcome!! It's relaunch day of our podcast! For 330 episodes, we've been the Homemaking Foundations Podcast. But we are rebranding everything under our new name, including the podcast. So welcome to season 1, episode 1 of the Finding Joy in Your Home podcast. We are kicking off the new season with 25 foundational episodes. Today we are talking about what the Ministry of Home is and more specifically: What is the purpose of life and how should we spend our time? So let's dive into our first official episode under our new name. And don't worry - ALL 330 episodes are still there! Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. As a society, we are all searching for meaning. We deeply want to use our lives (and our time) well. We want to have purpose and meaning in our days. The big question we all want answered: What does it mean to have a successful life? And where should we spend our time? As Christians, this has to first and foremost start with God. How does God define a successful life? How does he say we should spend our time? <-- This is where we are starting in this discussion.  You see, as Christians, God's Word should be the back bone of how we spend our life and our days. But sadly, for many, being a Christian has become a secondary or even tertiary influence in our lives. Many Christians today focus on a worldly life and worldly pursuits and might fit God in when it's convienent. So as Christians, what is our point in life? The Westminster Shorter Catechism says this: "Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever."  Well there you go. That's the entire mission behind our ministry and new name of: Finding Joy in Your Home. How do we find that joy in our homes? When we seek to follow God and glorify Him. How do we glorify God? By loving him and obeying his commands. "The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."- Ecclesiastes 12:13   "Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" - Matthew 16:24-26 So we see, as soon as we dive into Scripture, that our primary purpose is to love and serve God. A big way of serving God is loving and serving others. "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” - Galatians 5:13-14 So what does this mean for us in the context of loving and raising our families? Our Ministry At Home A successful life is not marked by: How much money we have in the bank How many degrees or titles after our names we amass How beautiful our homes are or how trendy we stay By juggling a giant career and being a mom Losing the baby weight so fast that no one even knows you are a mom ...or a myriad of other things we find out worth in. Those things are not bad in and of themselves. But they become bad when we mark these as a successful life. Rather, a successful life is marked by a life of service and a joy that can only come through the Lord.  "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,