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Exodus 20 v 12. Honour your father and your mother.

 

To have a home like we discussed yesterday we need spousal relationships that are good, healing, sincere and intimate. So it stands to reason that we must safeguard our marriage. A marriage which is merely tolerated, in which you feel trapped and where you are keeping things going for the sake of the children, is pathetic. If our children are going to grow up to respect us they must know that we are as sincere in our marriages as we are when we sing our hymns. They must see us cultivating that relationship, and working to make it happy. They must see us living under God’s law by the way in which we engage in our relationship with each other as husband and wife. Can’t the bickering stop? Can’t we learn to love each other with a genuine spontaneous love under God? How can we say that we are the Lord’s people if we live like the devil’s people in our homes? Isn’t it possible for Moms and Dads to forgive each other and to repent of all those sins that have caused so much hurt? What about the sharp tongues and the insults we heap upon each other from time to time? Isn’t it possible to banish these from our homes once and for all and to let our children see that when Jesus becomes king, He becomes king indeed? He must be king over the way in which we interact with each other and the way we speak; king over our tongues as well as everything else- including our finances., I appeal to you to make your home a model whereby your children are able to say, ‘In my home the Lord Jesus Christ is king’. In that way we honour our children. We do not exasperate them and they, in turn, honour us and fulfil this commandment as the years go by.

 

The Apostle Paul wrote the following in Ephesians 4:29-32:

 

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

 

Meditation:

Please do not let unwholesome behavioural patterns dominate your home life. Young children are very good at picking up bad habits. Do not give the devil a foothold. Talk to God about this.