Principles for Your Family

A person's family experiences quickly form patterns and expectations which are difficult to change later in life. God teaches everyone to be especially concerned with whether family relationships mirror the spiritual relationship to Him. When family relationships become mirror images of the spiritual relationship to God, the family and every person connected to it benefits. Consider three of the principles God provides concerning family:

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Serve each other (Eph. 5:21ff). Willing servitude to family members motivated by a healthy relationship with God is one of the pillars of God’s design for the family. Wives who follow the loving leadership of their husbands create a mirror image of Christ and the church for their children to see and grow to understand and appreciate. Children who obey compassionate and caring parents will find that they themselves are served well by the very instructions being given to them.

Give clear instruction (Eph. 6:1ff). Children who have rules, expectations, and consequences clearly communicated and maintained will find greater peace in life than those whose homes are filled with confusion and chaos. Parents who give clear instruction place their children in the advantageous position of understanding what they must do to please their father and mother. Through this type of relationship with their physical parents they will more easily understand the necessity of following their Heavenly Father’s commands to be pleasing in His sight as well.

Show Compassion (Mk. 7:9-13; 1 Tim. 5:4, 8). Parents who sow seeds of compassion in their children by genuinely caring about others ought to reap the harvest of their children’s care for them in their later years. A child who cares for their aged mother or father is doing what is pleasing in the sight of God and is displaying a Christlike spirit to those who are looking on.

These three principles only scratch the surface of God’s design for the family. On April 29, the Northwest church of Christ is holding a Family Sunday. On that day we will focus on several of the issues currently facing our families and will answer some of your questions concerning God’s design for families. Please plan to attend and bring a friend!

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