Skip to main content

Family

             That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. (Genesis 2:24)

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18)

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:28)

Scripture includes instructions for the major sorts of relationships, including the condemnation of some and warnings about others. But in today’s passages, God establishes several specific relationships: God/man, marriage, family, and rulership over the animals. There are lots of examples of God guiding people with regard to other relationships (e.g. master/slave and ruler/nation) but these four, He establishes.

It should not surprise us that these are relationships that are under attack or that seem to be being turned upside down and inside out.  We see this as we look at and listen to the world, but our own families are safe from that, aren’t they? They may be, but how many marriages and ministries have been ruined because of infidelity? How many couples are staying together, but not loving one another? How often do we find ourselves at odds with family members? How often do we allow careers or ministries to get in the way of our marriages or families? We may say that we’re doing something for our marriages or children, but while that may have been true somewhere along the line, is it now? And do we have any idea how to discern when we’ve stepped over the line? Do we routinely evaluate it?

And when we decide for the thousandth time this week that we are going to walk in obedience to Christ, and for the one thousand tenth time, we find our loved ones getting on our last nerves, do we ask ourselves if we’re in a battle?

Our families and our loved ones are not only the target, they are also sometimes the weapon. And when we find that this is true, we need to run to God. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more