What is God’s plan for the Christian home?
A HOME OF YOUR OWN - Your best investment is probably in bricks and mortar. As it is the biggest single item of expenditure for most families in the entire world.
IN SPITE, of the
differences between them, nations have always had one thing in common – the
home. The dwelling places of family groups is the hills and plains of every
country. It was God’s plan that people should live in this manner.
Unfortunately the
greater number of homes do not conform to the plan which God made for them.
Many homes are broken, with father and mother separated. Many parents quarrel.
Many are too busy with other things to care properly for their children. In
some homes, the children have grown to be disrespectful, even sometimes scorning
and hating their parents. In some, the children are lonely, unloved, and
untrained. Satan’s plan for our homes seems too often to succeed!
What is God’s plan for the Christian home!
Many families
like to build enclosure around their homes such as hedges, stone walls, or
wooden fences. So God is ready to surround each home with His angels, who
protect our little ones and ourselves from temptations and dangers. God will
send His Holy Spirit into the home, and its influence will soften tempers,
dispel jealousy and ease tensions.
Just think of having a little of heaven in your home! This
is God’s desire for us all.
God has placed
the father as the head of the home. He is to be as a king who rules in love. He
is to command the children after him, and gently guide the feet of the little
ones into the right paths. This is the father’s greatest and most important
work in the homes.
The mother
likewise is placed in the home for a special purpose. She is the queen of the
home. She will surround her children and her husband with an atmosphere of
cheerfulness, courtesy and love. When the father is away on business, she will
always be there to care for and to guide the children.
In such a home,
the children will be the joy and happiness of their parents, and will honor
and respect them all their days. But evils has either weakened or completely
destroyed this plan of God for a happy home. Polygamy has broken homes and
brought jealousies, quarreling, and misunderstanding. These homes do not know the
protection of God’s love, nor can the Holy Spirit dwell in such an atmosphere.
The angels leave in sadness, and Satan sometimes takes control.
The unity of the
home is also broken when the father feels he must go to the city for long
periods of time to find work. Mother and children are left alone for years. It
is hard for the mother to take the father’s place in the home. Can he pass on
to her his responsibility? If the father must leave, then God will give the
mother the special help she will need. But, Father, do not choose this type of
work if you can do otherwise! It is not the best plan for the unity of the home
to be thus broken.
The father’s duty to the children cannot be done by the
mother. If she does her own duty, she has burden enough to bear. Only by
working together can Father and Mother accomplish the work which God has given
into their hands.
Sometimes, where
the family lives in the city, Mother is tempted also to find a job, leaving the
children either by themselves, or with some unwise person like house help
nannies or in the day cares. Mother, is it wise for you to go away to work all
day, leaving your most important task of guiding the children to someone else?
Do you think you can expect the complete protection of God and His band of
angels if you shirk your first duty? If, of course, you are left alone to
support your children, then you can only do the best you can in bearing this
double burden. But it is far better for mothers to stay at home to care for
their little ones, even as the eagle hovers over her eaglets in the nest.
Home is where our
children grow strong. This is where they grow healthy and happy, and where they
learn of life’s purpose for them. The more we can be with one another, the
closer our hearts will be knit together in true love. The more time we spend in
loving fellowship, the stronger will be the bands that surround our precious
home.
Although this is
the plan God has for the ideal home, none of us have reached this standard as
yet. So, we shall strive for it. If one’s home is far from meeting this
standard, should he become discouraged? Each day is new one, and God will give
strength and courage to work toward the goal which He has set. Each day let us
make a new start.
A happy home is not the goal. It is the living and giving
the daily growing into the will of God for your family that makes for a winner,
my beloved friends.
