My Family is My Home

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Have we ever realised that family is where we will spend most of our time? Having our family with us is a big blessing from God that we need to be thankful for. Our family should be a place where all members are welcomed and accepted, also a space where we can safely and securely share all of our joy and tears. A family should be a place where all of its members can call it HOME!

Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways. When you eat the labour of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, your children like olive plants all around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you out of Zion, and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Yes, may you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel! Psalm 128:1-6 NKJV

RULES OF RELATIONSHIP

After created all things in Genesis 1, God continued with the initiation of family. He said, “It is not good that man should be alone Gen.2:18.” God created Eve for Adam and there is the beginning of the family. The family was created to make our life better, not to make it worse! That’s why God also introduces the rules of relationship, so all family member can know their position and responsibility within the family. People may have their own definition about the rules of family, however believers must realize and remember that their family is a Christian family where the value of heaven must be implemented. Obeying the rule of Christian family will bring down the heaven on earth.

Husband: the rule for husband is clear, to love his wife JUST LIKE Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her Eph.5:25. It sounds very serious and that’s how husband in Christian family need to aware. That’s the calling for all husband! That duty will be unaccomplished only with humanly love. The Bible clearly mentioned just like the love of Christ, so husbands need to feel and accept the love of Christ first! Only the love of Christ will make all husband able to love their wife and also the whole family unconditionally, just like Christ loved the church. Husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church Eph.5:28-29.

Wife: the rule for wife also clear, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Saviour of the body Eph.5:22-23. While the rule of husband will show the figure of God’s love for the family, the rule of wife will show the figure of church’s obedience for the family. Being submit is not merely the duty of a wife since apostle Paul taught all believers submitting to one another in the fear of God Eph.5:21. In practical, because of love husband need to submit himself as well in some ways. However, the figure of obedience is still the main duty of wife!
For a family with unbelieved husband, apostle Peter also gave the same rule: be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear 1Pet3:1-2. Proverbs said: Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife (ERV: always arguing) Pro.21:9.
Children: children need to obey and honour their parents Eph.6:1-3. It will be well with them and they may live long on the earth. In order that we teach the kids to obey, we definitely need to give them a figure of obedience as well. We will never able learn about obey unless we do that! It’s not something that we can only learn from the book. To build our family as a home, we need to teach them and give a good example as well in every single occasion Deut.6:7. Proverbs said: A foolish son is the ruin of his father Prov.19:13. We can prevent it happens by teaching them the good things from the first day also first in everyday!
Fathers: there is special rule for parents, DO NOT provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord Eph.6:4. By the character, it is easier for father to provoke his son to anger, or for parents to provoke their kids to anger. But it does not mean that we are not allowed to teach and discipline them Prov.23:13-14. Love of God must be involved in whatever method we are going to use to discipline them! The command in Proverbs to beat them with rod was started with the command to spend time with them Prov.4:1-4! The rules must be accompanied with building the relation. Making rules without good relationship will end up with rebellion!

After looking into these rules of relationship, we may ask which one should do it first? That classic question would have the classic answer too: the one that first understand the urgency to do it must initiate the process of that HOME building! Otherwise, all parties will just wait for another to start and the family will never be a home!

CHRISTIAN FAMILY VALUE

The most distinguished things from Christian family is about the value that we always try to build within the family. Christian family is not spontaneously become the perfect family. The process of time is always needed to develop Biblical value within the family, also to introduce it to all of the family members. The powerful things we have is not about us, but about God who take care and support our family!

For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ 1Cor.3:11. Blessed is EVERYONE who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways Psa.128:1.
Everyone in the family need to know Christ and to build their life upon that Solid Rock! The most important person in the family must be Christ alone! The most feared person in the family must be also Jesus Christ! Being a dictator parents who kids always fear will not always help the family to build a homey condition! But introduce Jesus as the one that all family need to fear for will help a lot!

All must ABIDE in the true vine.
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me Jn.15:4. The important key to build a family as a home that everyone must abide in the true vine, so the house will be like a heaven! Our life will be fruitful if we abide in the true vine. People around us will feel happy and can taste the goodness of God through us!

LOVE is the greatest thing that must be found in the family. The fulfillment of ‘the best law’ Deut.4:8 is the law of love Rom.13:10, Gal.5:14.
The Law given through Moses was the very good law, the law is holy and just and good Rom.7:12-13, even the greatest law among nations. If all family members commit themselves to obey that law, it would be very helpful to build a homey house. However, Jesus came to the world to bring that Law to perfection through Him. Jesus brought the law of love! Speaking about love will bring us to a long list about the characters of love in 1Corinthians 13. Indeed, that is love! Love will cover a multitude of sins 1Pet.4:8. Love will bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things. Love never fails!

THE ADVANCE OF CHRISTIAN FAMILY

Whatever condition we have in our family right now, let’s believe that it must grow better, even the best is yet to come. Do not give up, do not lose heart, do not lose your hope. Time always be needed to fix everything! Let’s believe in our faith that our family will be like the family that promised in the Bible. God gave so many examples in the Bible so that we can lift our head up and keep believing that God can change our family better!

Family of Joshua: a family with commitment
Joshua said: And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord Jos.24:15. Commitment is a must-have for a family to keep it strong and unite as a home. Otherwise, lot things can come to infiltrate and destroy the Biblical value of Christian family!

Family of Timothy: a family with strong legacy
Paul said: I filled with joy when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also 2Tim.1:5. A homey family will give not only big legacy but also eternal legacy! A living faith was inherited from Lois, the grandmother, to Timothy, the grandson. What will we give to our next generation? A family that filled with peace, joy, and living faith is the best thing that we can give to them!

Family of Job: a family with double blessing; a family with real experience with God
At the end of the book of Job, we may find how God restored the condition of Job’s family and blessed them double! The Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed, the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before Job.42:10. In midst of troubles and conflicts, it is very important to keep clinging to the Lord with all of our heart, with our words, and also with our attitudes! When Job’s wife started losing her heart Job.2:9, Job gave her a good example to remain still in the presence of God. A family that build upon the Solid Rock will endure even in the midst of strongest storms ever comes! Job got a brand-new experience with God which he will not be able to learn it from anyone except from God directly Job.42:5, and it will definitely help Job and his wife to build more homey family.

Family of Noah: an 8-persons family with unity
By the grace of God, Noah can bring together all of his sons with their family to go inside the ark. The day of Noah was a very difficult day, even Jesus taught us to compare it with the condition of last days that we have now! However, a homey family will be able to unite all of its members and overcome whatever challenge this world may try to attack with! On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark Gen.7:13. Noah and his wife must be fully respected by their sons and also their sons’ wife! A homey family will bring a fruit of respectfulness with each other and it will create the real and strong unity, being bond together with the love of God Col.3:14.

CONCLUSION & CHALLENGE

What it’s all about?

Building a strong family fully loaded with God’s love is a very important thing to do in this last days. While this world keeps roaring and always try to devour anyone, it is a must to keep all of our family to stay in the same ark, stay away from the flood, and this could only be happened if they can feel the ark as their home! No need to wait others to fulfil their rule as family member, let’s start this from me and do it now!

Insights and impressions:

Our family is our first responsibility! As God asked Cain, where is your brother, so God will also ask us, where is our family. Each of us is a family keeper Gen.4:9.

Next steps:

During this week, let’s try to examine if we already do our rules as husband, wife, children, or parents. No need to blame one another. Let’s ask God to give us courage and strength to do our rules first and be a good example for other family member.
Pray together as a family is always a good even important thing to do. A family will be like home when Jesus is there!

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