Exodus 20 v 12. Honour your father and your mother.
Today I want to write about HOPE in family relationships. Sometimes even professing Christians are guilty of the sin of breaking up their marriages. Partners sometimes become perverse and wreck the marriage and the home. An illustration of how easy it is to become perverse and unfeeling is given in Proverbs 30:20. ‘This is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats and wipes her mouth, and says, “I have done no wickedness”.
In other words the adulteress commits adultery as easily as eating a meal and there is no sense of wrong-doing or shame. There is no conscience or sensitivity either to the command of God or to the wrecked lives left in her wake.
Is there any hope? The very fact that God has given us this commandment indicates there must be hope and it is to be found in a commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. The problem of human relationships lies in the heart and it’s the disposition of the heart that has to be change. When you become a Christian, the disposition of your heart does in fact change, and you then have the power, through the Holy Spirit, to change things. The person who is truly converted has a new desire to please God. This is reflected in a determination to change old sinful habits and to live in such a way that Christ is honoured.
One of the changes is the ability to live in harmony and peace with those around you. The first thing to do is to repent of your old life style. Ask God to forgive you for the way in which you have dealt with your family, then confess to God that you have done wrong, turn your heart to Him and ask Him to help you become a real Christian.
That is not all. There then has to be restitution. This means a positive attempt at undoing the harm that has been done and putting right the things that were or are wrong. At the very least this will mean apologies to those who have been hurt. It may include making up in some tangible way for the harm we have done. Within a family circle this is not always easy because of the credibility gap. The family may not believe you really are sorry and they may not make it easy for you to make restitution. However difficult it may be you must persevere while trusting God to help you.
Meditation:
Do you have something to repent of in your family? Is there something you have done that needs to be put right? If you are a Christian then strive with all your might to rectify the wrong – and above all. Talk to God about it.