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God's Exquisite Garden
THE HOME AS GOD WOULD HAVE IT (PART 2)
We are speaking about the home. Many people think of a home as a dwelling place. It can be someone’s homeland. We are looking at the home as a family unit. We will look at things that interfere with God’s plan for the home and things that help to implement it.
BROKEN HOMES
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God wants families to stay together.
The greatest wreck in the world is a broken home. We have all seen the damage done by a broken home. This is terribly sad and it is NOT God’s plan. When one spouse leaves the other spouse and their children behind, it is devastating. The spouse who leaves the family behind is attending to his/her own selfish needs.
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The remaining spouse has to raise the children and attend to emotional and financial needs without the assistance of the partner. The spouse left behind has been dealt a painful blow.
She had planned upon growing old alongside her partner. Our hearts bleed for the spouse left behind and for the children. The children may be young or in their teenage years, but regardless of their age, this is NOT God’s plan. When we speak of a broken home, we are in no way speaking of a home where one spouse has been left as a widow or widower. While there is hurt in the household, the departed spouse did not abandon the family because of selfish desires.
1 Timothy 5:8 , "But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."
1 Timothy 5:4, "But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents; for this is good and acceptable before God."
WORKING OUTSIDE THE HOME
We as mothers have been given a privileged honor to stay home and build up our home as God wants it to be. There are some mothers who go outside the home to work. This is done for various reasons, for lavishing themselves with the comforts that an added salary will bring, or for abandoning their responsibilities within the home. Then there are those who MUST work outside the home.
If a mother has to work, it is well if she is able to stay home with her child for the first two years.During those years she can build a good foundation. She will need to continually reinforce the values she wishes to instill in her child. There are others who feel they need to work to widen a considered talent. We have heard others say how anyone can clean house.
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But, God wants wives and mothers to build their homes, to lay a great foundation for all the family members. We think of the many children who are left in someone else’s care. This other person may not be very well educated and she may not know much at all about our Lord’s teachings. The children are in their formative years, and this needs to be remembered at all times as we are seeking child care when needed. By the time the child is five years old, at least half of the work involved in training him/her will have already happened. When the mother is at work and leaving her children with someone else who may not know God’s teachings, the child is absorbing what they see and hear. The child’s mind is taking in all they hear and very possibly he/she may not be hearing good and worthwhile things.
Proverbs 31:27, "She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness."
SET A GOOD EXAMPLE
Not only are we to build up our home by teaching, we are to set a good example before our children. You cannot train a child by just telling him how he ought to act, you need to show him. Often we might wonder how we are to teach our child not to use any improper language. But, when we utter disgusting things about a neighbor or another Christian, what are we telling them?
If we are aware of any problems in the congregation, we need to not speak of these problems in front of the children. Also, the tone of our voice tells the child that something is not quite right. When our children hear us discussing other Christians, they too begin to look for the fault in others and not the good in people.
Exodus 10:2, " and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son's son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord."
NEGATIVE EXAMPLE
In the Word of God we are told not to set a bad example before our children. Seen in the Old Testament are many illustrations where an evil example has been set. We are exhorted to set a good example before our children.
We read of Jeroboam in I Kings 15:3, "And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him, his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David."
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."
ENCOURAGING FAMILY MEMBERS
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As we are building our homes, the wife will build up her husband by encouraging words. We won’t use demeaning words. We all know what encouraging and demeaning words do to a person. Since we are to encourage one another, why not begin the encouraging at home? So many wives now will demean, make fun of and criticize our husbands to others. This is NOT God’s plan.
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Do you as a wife speak ill of your husband to your children? How damaging this is to your husband who wants to be a strong central figure in their lives. This damaging talk to our children could cause longtime wounds that will be hard to heal. When we act in that manner, we actually are taking our house down by our own hands.
Mark 3:25, "And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand."
The worthy woman is described in Proverbs 31:12, "She does him good and not evil all the days of her life."
Paul in writing about the qualification of deacons in the church writes in I Timothy 3:11, "Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things."
CONCLUSION - As we teach our children, we are pointing the way to heaven to them. Because there will be a day in which heaven or hell will be their lot, our building of a home is so terribly important!!
Discussion and study questions
1) In a broken home, the spouse who abandons their family does so because of what?
2) Should a mother NEED to work outside the home, what all will she need to do?
3) What must we do to train our children correctly?
4) Are we to direct demeaning remarks to family members and to others? Why or why not?
5) Where are we pointing our family through our teaching?
Copyright 2008 Linda Lawrence
Lessons in this Series
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Bringing God Home: Family Devotions for the Christian Year
By James Evans / Smyth & Helwys Publishing, Inc
This guide to family worship, which follows the Christian calendar, helps establish a family tradition of worship and Bible study through a systematic reading of the Bible and a practical setting for home worship. Each of these daily entries includes a Scripture passage and worship activity such as an object lesson or hand craft. Children of all ages will enjoy this concise, hands - on approach to worship and study.
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Photos courtesy Stock Xchng,
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