Do You Have a Happy Home?
INTRODUCTION.
A. As with all things, God has given us a definite plan that we are to follow when building a home. We must follow the plans of God, and not the plans of man. Solomon wrote, "Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain." (Psalms 127:1, NKJV)
B. If a home is founded upon the foundation of God, then the home will be happy. It is the purpose of this lesson to show upon what type of foundation a home must be built.
I. A HAPPY HOME IS WHERE LOVE IS BOTH SHOWN AND KNOWN.
A. God's chief characteristic is love. (1 John 4:16-19) If we possess this love, then we will dwell in God and God will dwell in us.
B. Knowing that God is love, a family should make God the center of the home. With God at the center of the home, the godly family will possess this godly love.
1. Husbands are told to love their wives. (Ephesians 5:25 - “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,” NKJV)
2. Wives are told to love their husbands and their children. (Titus 2:4 - “that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,” NKJV)
3. The love defined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 will be present in the godly home.
a. “Love suffers long and is kind”
b. “love does not envy”
c. “love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
d. love “does not behave rudely”
e. love “does not seek its own”
f. love “is not provoked”
g. love “thinks no evil”
h. love “does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth”
i. love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things”
4. Just as Jesus demonstrated His love, so should love be demonstrated within the home.
5. Love should be shown and known within the home.
6. It has once been said that the greatest gift that a father can give a child is to love the mother and to show this love.
7. Think about the results where love is not shown and known: If the father is a grouch and the mother is a bitter pill, their children will grow up to become grouchy, bitter pills, being unable to demonstrate their love.
C. A godly family that possesses and demonstrates godly love will have both emotional and spiritual security.
1. Christians will be in God and God in them. (1 John 4:16 - “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” NKJV)
2. Christians will have boldness in the day of judgment. (1 John 4:17 - “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.” NKJV)
3. Christians will fear nothing of this world. (1 John 4:18 - “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” NKJV)
D. It has once been said, "A happy home is secure where love is both shown and known." (Give examples of father hugging children, showing affection and love openly in the family, and expressing this love to one another.) NOTE: Without love, the family bond will begin to erode like a beach that is being continually beaten by the angry waves.
II. A HAPPY HOME IS WHERE THE BIBLE IS TAUGHT AND PRACTICED.
A. The parents’ goal should be to put the word of God into the heart of each member of the family. They are to make the principles of God word a normal way of life. Consider the instructions given to parents who lived under the law of Moses. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)
1. The word of God should not be something a child learns ONLY in bible class or worship services.
2. The principles of God's word should be taught at home on a daily basis.
a. “You shall teach them diligently to your children,”
b. “and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,”
c. “when you walk by the way,”
d. “when you lie down,”
e. “and when you rise up.”
3. There are times when teaching your child the application of one verse will be more effective than reading fifty verses. If we do not teach our children how to apply Bible verses in their daily lives, then we have fallen short in our responsibility to teach them the word of God.
B. Parents need to remember the key phrase: “teach them diligently to your children.”
1. Make the principles of God’s Word a normal way of life.
2. A child needs a creed by which he can live. What better creed than the word of God?
3. A child needs a cause for which he can live. What better cause than Jesus Christ?
4. You, parents, can teach your children English, Mathematics, Geography, Geometry, and Science. You, mothers, can teach your daughters how to cook, sew, and clean. You, fathers, can teach your sons how to provide for their families. However, in all your teachings, if you have never taught your children the principles of the word of God, then you have taught your children nothing at all.
5. A child must be taught the word of God in order to be able to live a righteous life. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalms 119:105, NKJV)
III. A HAPPY HOME IS WHERE PRAYER IS A NORMAL ACTIVITY.
A. There is a saying which goes like this, “A family that prays together, stays together.” Even though this saying is not taken from the Bible, the principle is sound.
1. A family’s prayers should not be limited to meal times.
2. Families should set aside times during the day to go to God in prayer. Consider the following references to prayer.
a. Luke 18:1 - “Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,” (NKJV)
b. Luke 21:36 - “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (NKJV)
c. Philippians 4:6 - “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;” (NKJV)
d. Colossians 4:2 - “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;” (NKJV)
e. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 - “pray without ceasing,” (NKJV)
B. Families need to teach their children how to pray as Christ taught His disciples how to pray. (Matthew 6:9-15)
C. If God fearing families have normal prayer activity in their homes, then the right examples will be set. Remember the words of Solomon, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6, NKJV)
IV. A HAPPY HOME IS WHERE JESUS IS HONORED AS LORD.
A. Parents should refer to Jesus and His teachings every day. Jesus is Lord and Savior. The apostle Paul wrote that Jesus Christ is “the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords,” (1 Timothy 6:15, NKJV) This fact should be known and understood by parents and their children.
B. Parents should teach their children the following about Jesus Christ:
1. Jesus is Lord of all. (Acts 10:36 - “The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ --- He is Lord of all ---” NKJV)
2. Christians gain eternal life through Jesus Christ. (Romans 6:23 - “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” NKJV)
3. Through Christ, Christians cannot be separated from the love of God. (Romans 8:39 - “nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” NKJV)
4. Christians are to teach their family to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. (Philippians 2:9-11)
C. Every parent should consider the following question. Under what context does your child hear the name of the Lord:
1. In reference to Him, such as in praising Him and thanking God for Him?
2. In a vain and empty fashion?
D. Godly families should honor Christ as Lord to the point that every decision they make will be based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. (Colossians 3:17) (Example: A teenager wants to go to a party where there will be drinking and dancing. The parents should go to the Bible, with the child, and see what God desires.)
V. A HAPPY HOME IS WHERE REGULAR WORSHIP IS EXPECTED AND DESIRED.
A. Parents are commanded to train up their children. (Proverbs 22:6 - “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” NKJV)
B. Parents should teach their children not to forsake the assemblies of the saints.
1. Parents can build within their children a desire to attend the assemblies.
2. This desire is built by the parents demonstrating a desire to assemble.
3. Parents should teach their children the purposes of the assemblies. For examples:
a. Saints should provoke one another unto love and good words by assembling together. (Hebrews 10:24,25)
b. Saints should be edified by assembling together. (1 Corinthians 14:26)
C. A happy family is a family that regularly attends the assemblies of the saints.
VI. A HAPPY HOME IS WHERE THE FAMILY'S ETERNAL SALVATION IS PRIORITY.
A. Many families work hard to prepare a financial future for their children. (Ex. college fund, inheritance, weddings, etc.)
B. But, what about the family’s spiritual future? Parents are to help their children . . .
1. lay up spiritual treasures in Heaven. (Matthew 6:19-21)
2. lay up in store a good foundation. (1 Timothy 6:18-19)
3. to set their minds on things above and not on things below. (Colossians 3:1-2)
C. Consider the determination of Joshua. “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15, NKJV)
CONCLUSION.
A. A happy home is where:
1. LOVE IS BOTH SHOWN AND KNOWN.
2. THE BIBLE IS TAUGHT AND PRACTICED.
3. PRAYER IS A NORMAL ACTIVITY.
4. JESUS IS HONORED AS LORD.
5. REGULAR WORSHIP IS EXPECTED AND DESIRED.
6. THE FAMILY'S ETERNAL SALVATION IS PRIORITY.
B. Christians can have happy homes. To do so, they must be willing to study God’s word and to keep His commands.
C. Do you have a happy home? If not, then turn to God and you, too, can have a happy home.
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Do You Have a Happy Home? -- February 2, 2003 -- File # 2584
by John M. Duvall -- Lawton, OK