Love and the Home 3
There is no greater deity than God, and there is no other earthly deity for a child than a God-fearing mother. A mother that fears God will lead her child on the path of righteousness. Children must imbibe the idea of making their mothers their best friends. Mothers have the wisdom to find the best solution to their children’s problems. A father that loves and respects his wife will be loved and respected by her children. A home governed by Christ has the husband as the President of the home. And the wife, as the Prime Minister. The children grow up to become governors or administrators of different home sections. The making of a godly home starts from when you put up an advert for a spouse. When you become mature, you must branch off like a tree from your root.
Your root is your own parental house. When you search to pick a spouse, pick well. Pray to God and choose a godly spouse. You begin to establish the needed foundation for a faithful relationship that will lead to a solid home base to spring forth-good children, builders of a nation and not destroyers. Ungodly children turn to crimes and destroy themselves, their parents, and the nation.
Home is the smallest unit of a community. Community makes a city; a city builds up to a state, and states make a nation. It is then imperative to make a home strong to have a strong society and nation. If a home member does not tend to criminality, there will be no crime in a nation. Teach your child when he is young to bring you assistance at your old age.
Parents beware of dogs in sheep’s clothing and beware of the devil that is ready to destabilize your home and, by large, the earth. In a home not governed by Jesus Christ, there is sexual lust, love-lost and marital conflict. Parents do not understand sex, and the young ones misuse sex. Sex is one of the most potent basic instincts, and it is also one of the most exciting and fundamental acts of the human person. Sex is a facility for love, and it is an instrument for the mutual completion of persons and the agent of perpetuating society. In sex and through sex, the man joins God in the creative process by affecting the social continuum, but sex is also abused and used to brutalize one’s psyche. Sexual lust must not be confused with love in the home.
The home should be conducive and be a training ground for righteousness to bring up godly children. I believe young ones should not be left to experience their immediate environment by being burnt first; instead, they have to be led appropriately and formed through instructions. Parents have the duty in the home to teach their children uprightness and the way of God. Wisdom is in getting married before having sex and keeping only to one’s spouse after Marriage. A wise person learns from the experiences, mistakes, and triumphs of others and does not fall into the pit himself.
Our world is fast becoming materialistic in values and predatory. Therefore, there must be a paradigm shift by the youths to the old traditional values. These traditional values guided society with a godly hand and human face in the past. I sound the gong for a return to values that treat the human person as an image of God. That should be our mantra in a society where the spirit of commercialism has become the teacher of the faith, a society where condoms and other contraceptives have taken over the desirable values of abstinence and mutual fidelity.
The commands of Jesus, as found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), are meant for Christians to obey. Christians are more often avoiding the extreme sins while regularly committing the types of sins with which Jesus was most concerned. In the sight of God, there is no grade of sin and no weight of sin, and sin is sin. The sin of petty stealing is the same as murder.
Believers who are already in the new age awaiting the eschatological consummation are to be the light of the world. They are to be examples of integrity, honesty, and exemplary character to the whole world. Christians are to live and think like Jesus Christ. Jesus pointed out what kind of lives would require his followers in the Sermon on the Mount. Our real struggle with sin is exposed in the example of murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, and revenge. We can only obey the commands of Jesus not by our strength but by the Grace of God. Only the Holy Spirit-filled life can make it possible to obey Jesus’ commands completely. Jesus, in his Sermon, tells us that it is not enough to avoid murder (Matt 5:21-22); we must also avoid anger, hatred, and quarrelling.
In Matthew 5:23-26, we learn that it is not enough to offer regular gifts. We must also have the right relationships with God and others. Matthew 5:27-30 teaches us that it is not enough to avoid adultery. We must also keep our hearts from lust and remain faithful avoiding divorce. (Matt 5:31- 32) is not enough to be legally married, we must also live out our marriage commitments. On oath (Matt 5:33-37), we must avoid casual and irresponsible commitments to God. It is not enough to seek justice for ourselves; in case of revenge (Matt 5:38-47), we must also show mercy and love to others.
