Encouragement for Today!
Inspirational Insight
Answers to Today's Questions
A STRONG FOUNDATION
In Deuteronomy 6 we read, "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up" (Deuteronomy 6:6-7, NIV).
The key to a solid family is putting God first in our homes and families. And to put God first in your home, He needs to be first in your own life—whether you are a father, a mother, a husband, a wife or a child.
Billy Graham
The home is the foundation of any society. But something is wrong with many of our homes. We've never had more books available advising us how to solve our family and marital problems than we have today.
Yet somehow we're more miserable, we're more broken, we're more torn, we're more hurt, than we've ever been. Why? Because we have not taken the Word of God into account. God has laid down the rules and regulations for a successful and happy home, and we've broken them. Is your home built on a solid foundation? If we disregard God's regulations for the home, then our homes are in danger of ending in disaster.
The husband-wife relationship is the key to family success. A successful family needs to be founded on a divinely ordered marriage. Marriage is not a short-term option. It is a contract for life; it is ordered by God. The Bible says, "Live joyfully with the wife of your youth" (Cf. Proverbs 5:18). Don't even think about a divorce—be faithful. Christ can hold you together; there is no problem that cannot be solved by the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are a believer in Christ, you are to marry a fellow believer, not an unbeliever. Jesus said, "If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand" (Mark 3:25, NIV). Don't say, "We'll settle some of these things after we're married." Settle them before you marry. The Scripture says, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers" (2 Corinthians 6:14, NIV).
Be careful about whom you fall in love with. What are you looking for in a spouse? In our obsession with physical appearance we often fail to look for and to recognize the inner qualities that make a woman or a man truly attractive. Proverbs 31 says, "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised" (Proverbs 31:30, NIV). Put God First A cornerstone in the foundation of a happy home is the spiritual exercise of prayer, Bible reading and church attendance. Do you attend church? Do you read the Bible in your home? Do you gather your family and have a time of Bible reading and prayer? Do you ask God's blessing at the table?
Yet somehow we're more miserable, we're more broken, we're more torn, we're more hurt, than we've ever been. Why? Because we have not taken the Word of God into account. God has laid down the rules and regulations for a successful and happy home, and we've broken them. Is your home built on a solid foundation? If we disregard God's regulations for the home, then our homes are in danger of ending in disaster.
The husband-wife relationship is the key to family success. A successful family needs to be founded on a divinely ordered marriage. Marriage is not a short-term option. It is a contract for life; it is ordered by God. The Bible says, "Live joyfully with the wife of your youth" (Cf. Proverbs 5:18). Don't even think about a divorce—be faithful. Christ can hold you together; there is no problem that cannot be solved by the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are a believer in Christ, you are to marry a fellow believer, not an unbeliever. Jesus said, "If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand" (Mark 3:25, NIV). Don't say, "We'll settle some of these things after we're married." Settle them before you marry. The Scripture says, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers" (2 Corinthians 6:14, NIV).
Be careful about whom you fall in love with. What are you looking for in a spouse? In our obsession with physical appearance we often fail to look for and to recognize the inner qualities that make a woman or a man truly attractive. Proverbs 31 says, "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised" (Proverbs 31:30, NIV). Put God First A cornerstone in the foundation of a happy home is the spiritual exercise of prayer, Bible reading and church attendance. Do you attend church? Do you read the Bible in your home? Do you gather your family and have a time of Bible reading and prayer? Do you ask God's blessing at the table?
Bible verses marked NIV are taken by permission from The Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society, Colorado Springs, Colorado. ©Billy Graham Evangelistic Association