If Adam and Eve didn’t have the ideal family, how would we describe what that was? This devotion looks at the type of foundation God expects to prepare our children for their lives ahead.
Nuggets
- Above all else, we need to individually love God; then, we need to love and worship God as a family.
- Part of the function of the family is to provide the foundation on which the children will build their lives.
- God wants us to remember, not erase or cover up the past.
The Ideal Family
The Hopeful Family
In Support of Widows
Instructing Our Children
Who Is the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?
In the last devotion, we talked about how the family unit we see today was not what God had set up in the Garden of Eden. The family changed after sin entered into the world.
So, what would God consider as the ideal family unit? Let’s see what we can see.
Let's Put It into Context
Family is, according to the Holman Bible Dictionary, “the basic household unit which provides a person’s central relationships, nurture, and support.”
Resource
Ordinances are an expression of the disciples’ obedience. Marriage is an ordinance.
Family Unity
“Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart” (Deut. 6: 4-6 CSB)
I know. We’ve had this passage before. And we will keep talking about it.
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
Jesus said it was the greatest commandment. We have to love God first and foremost. Even before loving others.
This is what the gospel is all about. If you aren’t interested in getting this important fact, you are reading the wrong blog.
Above all else, we need to individually love God. We have to be totally submitted to God. We have to be following His directives.
How? “… with all our heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deut. 6: 5 CSB). In one of the iterations, it adds mind.
We have to be all in. Then, we need to love and worship God as a family.
We said in the last devotion that the family must be built on love. Well, think about it. God is love (I Jn. 4: 8).
We are to grow our character to imitate Him. That means we are to be love, also — His type of love. When we are God’s type of love, our family dynamics are totally different.
Think about what a strong family unit achieves. Love promotes unity.
We react better to trials and frustrations, so our family members don’t have to worry if it is going to be nice Elaine who shows up or mean Elaine.
That means the family members are calmer and think more clearly. That may help situations to be avoided.
It also means we are more forgiving when things do go south. We see the good in our family members and are able to curb our feelings of anger and resentment toward them.
We can concentrate on growing the positive things rather than having to mending the broken. We don’t get envious and overly critical.
Handing the Gospel Down
“Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up” (Deut. 6: 7 CSB)
Part of the function of the family is to provide the foundation on which the children will build their lives. We parents do that by providing instruction and boundaries, establishing curfews, and meting out the punishment as needed.
Vaughan felt that Deuteronomy 6: 5 is the perfect tool to build that foundation. He stated that “this verse is the meeting point of the law and the Gospel.”
Resource
Yes, God gives us laws and commandments. He doesn’t let us believe whatever we want to believe. We are to be believing what He believes.
Yes, we can compromise on things — but not beliefs. We can’t tolerate what God has called sin. No, we don’t have to harp on something once they know our feelings, but we don’t have to give up our beliefs and give them our blessing because they want to keep on sinning.
No, I don’t have to let Adam believe something that is wrong and not say anything because I don’t want to appear old fashioned or unbending. I have to be the champion of the gospel.
I wouldn’t let Adam doing something in which he is going to get hurt just because he can make his own decisions. If I see something isn’t right, this mama bear is going to have a talk with that boy.
Having a strong family unit means that we don’t tolerate actions because our family members mistake that tolerance for love. We have to love with a real love, not a fake love.
We hold each other accountable for our actions based on God’s laws and commandments. We encourage each other and support each other even during the ouchy growing pains.
How are we supposed to talk about all of this? When Moses was saying this, the Wilderness Wanderers didn’t have their own personal copy of the Scriptures. They couldn’t even pull one off of the internet.
Parents had to say the laws and commandments over and over again so the kids could memorize them. If they didn’t pass them on, the kids would not have known them.
But it is more than just a memorization exercise. The laws aren’t a checklist of what to do and what not to do. They are to build our character.
Don’t Forget
“Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates” (Deut. 6: 8-9 CSB)
God wants us to remember. He doesn’t want us to erase or cover up the past. We have all done things we shouldn’t have done. We have all said things we shouldn’t have said.
We ask forgiveness for that and learn from that. If we don’t have that to learn from, we don’t have the building blocks from which to learn.
More importantly, God wants us to remember how He has brought us through all the trials. We need to remember how He provided for us.
God wants us to see that it isn’t us doing life by ourselves. It is Him working His plan in us.
Instead, we’ve taken God out of our governments and out of our schools. Some have even taken God out of their churches.
Newsflash. This world isn’t getting better. It is getting worse.
That is because, by taking God out, we have let Satan in. Satan is the agent of chaos. He is delusion and lies.
We need to take our homes, our schools, our cities, our states, our nations, our world back for God. We need to not only put His laws and commandments on our hands, foreheads, doorposts, and gates, but we also have to put them in our hearts, minds, and lives.
Making the Connections
Vaughan described God’s character.
• active
• strong
• supporting many burdens of care, and work, and thought, and responsibility
• has a warm heart
• tenderness
• craves affection
• is touched by the response of gratitude
• loves love
• has even a void place within till love fills it
Resource
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
We’ve been looking at defending our beliefs when we are witnessing. That means we have to be secure enough to convince someone to accept our beliefs.
Our questions should still serve us to determine on what we need to focus.
- What does the Scriptures say?
- What do I believe?
- Why do I believe the same/differently than the Scriptures?
- What are the talking points when witnessing to a non-believer?
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
How Do We Apply This?
How do we build character? Well, first we have to decide where we need the building to take place. Then we have to be intentional about building it and be accountable for getting it done.
What better place to do all of that than in the family unit. The people who love us and know us can help us the most.
Yes, I really liked Vaughan’s sermon. He gave us a way to apply this.
“And what is this love which God asks of us? It is not different in kind, it differs only in direction, from that which we give one to another. Think what love is, as you give it to your nearest and best beloved.”
Resource
Give our love to our nearest and best beloved. Who is that besides our family?
Father God. You instituted families so that we would not have to be alone. You also wanted to show us the fellowship that we can have with You. Help us to live the way You want us to, growing to be more like You. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email daily or weekly providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.
Pingback: In Support of Widows – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Who Is the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: How Are We to be Children of God? – Seeking God with Elaine