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God's Exquisite Garden
THE HOME AS GOD WOULD HAVE IT (PART 1)
A definition of the word home is place of residence, a home town or a homeland. The word home can have an extensive range of meanings. Separate from the dream of having a home and a family, we will look at the plan God has for the home.
God’s plan for the home includes a loving God-fearing Christian father and wife and obedient loving children. At the basis of our homes the Word of God should be placed. Our homes need to be so much more than just a roof over our heads, they should be where a foundation has been built for strong Christian lives.
HOW DO WE BUILD A HOME?
We may ask ourselves, "How am I to build a home?" The wise wife and/or mother does not go and build it with hammer and nails as a carpenter builds a structure. So, what are we to do? We are told by Solomon in Proverbs how a wise woman will build her house. Here the word house means home. What was Solomon talking about? As we ponder what it takes to build a home, we must reflect upon God’s wondrous design for the home. At all times, we must look to His Word for guidance. A woman in building her home will build up her family.
The size of our house really does not matter, the same amount of happiness is found in a small home as is found in a mansion. We want to build our homes carefully since they will hold many of our deepest physical, emotional and spiritual needs. They also hold our dreams and hopes for the future.
Proverbs 14:1,"Every wise woman buildeth her house, but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands."
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Teach Them - Our homes should be a place where our children are taught about the Lord and His teachings. We are preparing them for life, what can be more important than instilling in them a thorough knowledge of the Bible?
2 Timothy 3:15, " and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."
Joel 1:3, "Tell your children about it, Let your children tell their children, And their children another generation."
If we spend twice as much time with our children as we currently do and spend half the money we spend upon them, we will be surprised at how much better they turn out. We have heard of show and tell in school, our children view the world based upon what we show and tell them. We should not expect our children to listen to any advice we may give them and not pay attention to the example we set before them. The time we spend in outside activities needs to be limited so that we are there for our children.
Proverbs 22:6,"Train up a child in the way he should go. And when he is old he will not depart from it."
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When speaking of Eli God said,"For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them." 1 Samuel 3:13
We can take our children to hear the preacher, attend Bible Classes, the school itself can teach, but, we as parents must spend time at home in training our children. Throughout the Bible God accentuated the importance of parents telling their children about the Bible. There are so many parents who hope to leave it up to the church and the school to train their children. They are trying to shirk their responsibility. God gave parents this responsibility to see that this training is done.
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Matthew 18:6, "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
Deut. 6:6-7, "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your children¸ and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."
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Matthew 18:14, "Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish."
Our homes should be a pleasant place where our husbands and children want to come and unwind after a difficult day. Everyone in the home should be accepted for themselves as they are. We will all have happier homes if we live in a loving home where improper language is not used. Our homes need to be where everyone is accepted for who they are. We should build our homes into a home where our family wants to come home at the end of a day, not a place where they are reluctant to come. Our homes need to be as if they had an imaginary bubble engulfing it in love. My son has often remarked while smiling as he sat on our couch, "I am happy here."
Moses' father-in-law when asked to stay with Moses said, "I will not go, but I will depart to my own land and to my relatives." Numbers 10:30,
Conclusion part one:
If the child is being taught Christian virtues and values as he should be, why would a mother want to turn over this privilege which is given to mothers by our Lord, to someone else while she goes outside the home to work? Training them correctly is the mothers’ duty, it is a God given pleasure.
Matthew 18:14, "Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish."
Discussion and study questions
1) What do we need to place at the basis of our homes?
2) What What did Solomon say about building a home?
3) Who ultimately should train our children?
4) How are we to treat other family members?
Copyright 2008 Linda Lawrence
Lessons in this Series
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