Oh do you remember (ooh)
When the family was everything? (ooh)
It was so long ago and so much has changed (ooh)
I wanna go back to those simple days (ooh)
And all I’m really trying to say is our love don’t have to change
No it don’t have to change
In the beginning, the family was the place where everything happened.
A man became so by looking at the strong arms of his father, working hard to ensure the satisfaction, safety and security of his family. He learnt strength by following his father to hunt down animals or by tilling an empty piece of land until it brought forth fruit. He learnt the values of hard work, the sweetness of success after a struggle, resilience, and leadership.
He learnt responsibility
In the beginning, the family was the place it all happened
A young woman became so by helping her mother with chores; she learnt how to cook by starting with the minute details of dicing onions and tasting from her mother’s ladle. She learnt how repair things rather than throw them away by helping fix little buttons and patching holes. She learnt that her strength was in the woman within her, her capacity to be calm in the face of struggle, her ability to be unruffled even when the world around her was chaotic, the strength in her voice, the peace in her ambience, the wholeness within her.
She learnt virtue
In the beginning we learnt about God in the family.
In the family we were introduced to the idea of a larger being …. The idea of a being that was bigger that all else, greater than our imaginations with the immense capacity to have made the world!
The being we know today as God. The only true God.
In the beginning, Christian families introduced God to their children from infancy, teaching the importance of a relationship with the Heavenly father through family altars, sunday and weekly services, bible clubs, choirs and even the value of praying before eating.
Christian families were the different ones. They were the men and women that the society could point to as the standard, their lifestyles were different, they preached holiness, godliness and love through their actions. They were evidence of the reason why after creating Adam, God desired to create another human as his help-meet. These Christian families proved that God did no wrong when he thought up the idea of Family- Family as a unit of closely tied individuals by blood and Family as a unit of closely tied individuals by the blood of his son Jesus.
Christian Families were the ideal. Families bound by human and spiritual blood
In the beginning the purpose was Love
God is Love (1 John 4:8)
The work of creation is evidence of unequivocal love. Remember that God did not create vegetation before land, he did not create the animals that would eat the vegetation before the made the plants. He made it all in a planned sequence, thinking of the impact of one against the other. When God created man (in his image which is love), the world was ready. This man came alive from the breath of God.
Then he made the woman- From the loins of the man he breathed into.
Man and Woman are the first family…. A family closely knit and woven into God. The way he planned it.
Today, that plan of love and family has not changed- God still intends that his love is the priority in our lives and in our families. He wishes that the church is like that of the early Christians where the love of Christ is engraved in our hearts, living lives of sanctity, dedicated to others, loving all and sharing all things.
Indeed God still desires families and churches that are woven into him.
God, give us Christian homes!
Homes where the Bible is loved and taught,
Homes where the Master’s will is sought,
Homes crowned with beauty Your love has wrought;
God, give us Christian homes;
God, give us Christian homes!
Kitan Adenmolu coordinates the Writing Team in the IT/Media Department of He’s Alive Chapel City Gate Sanctuary, Lagos, Nigeria
Tunde Aiyeobasan says
February 18, 2013 at 12:19 amBuilding a Godly Home
There is amazing value in putting in the extra time and effort to build your own Home. The same holds true when it comes to building a Godly family. When you build with a goal in mind, according to your house plans, you end up with a finished product: a home that is structurally sound as well as aesthetically pleasing. Not unlike actual construction, building a Godly home with God’s kind of blueprint in mind creates a family that is structurally sound and unbelievably pleasing to be a part of.
The following are some of the principles that you need to practice if you want to build a Godly home. And yes, if you follow His plans, you will truly enjoy some great “sweat equity.”
1. Follow God’s blueprint
Make a choice as a couple that you will do family God’s way. Put a stake in the ground, like Joshua did when he announced, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15). This decision to surrender your marriage, your family relationships and your family’s ongoing well-being to the Lord is a hugely significant step to take. You are not going to build a family by accident but by clear intention, and it is very important that you know God’s plan like the back of your hand.
2. Live by the blueprint
It is so critical that parents model the difference that Jesus makes in their life personally, as well as within a marriage. We are saying, “Yes, God’s way is best,” but our kids are more taken and influenced by our actions than by our words. So much more is caught than taught. For years I have been saying that we will have a new generation of committed Christians only to the extent that this generation, you and I, as parents, live totally dedicated to Jesus. If they see it in our lives, they certainly have a better chance of finding God and the significance He makes in a life. Donalyn and I call Philippians 4:9 the “parents’ prayer” as it says, “Whatever you have learned, received, heard from me or seen in me, put into practice and the God of peace will be with you.” We’re basically saying to our kids, “Watch and see that God’s way is best.”
3. Coach according to God’s game plan
Over the course of approximately 18 years that we have to influence our children, it should be our goal to instruct and guide them in God’s plan for a person’s life. Beyond that, we will find that each child has a unique calling of God on their life based on their gifts, their heart and abilities. We need to help them discover God’s specific plan for their life, and not only the general plan of how He wants us all to live. Deuteronomy 6:7-9 guides us in how we should talk about the Lord when we get up in the morning, when we’re traveling, when we’re sitting down for meals, and going to bed at night. Talking about the influence of God on our family and our lives needs to be 24/7 and as natural as breathing.
4. Live in a safe work environment
Your home should be the safest place on earth for every member of your family. It should be the child’s haven and they should always feel free to come running to mom and dad for help, support, and safety. Family members are to be cherished and respected. God’s plan requires proper treatment on the job site – it is mandatory. How you treat your spouse matters hugely to God. The way in which you believe in and support your kids matters hugely to God. What goes on in the four walls of your house, and the belonging that each family member experiences, is a test of the validity of your faith. Make your home the safest place your family could ever live.
5. Build as a team
Time together as a family has to be a nonnegotiable commitment. There needs to be extended time where you can love, laugh with and live with the other members of your family. Adjust your priorities so that time with the kids is important – and not just for mom, but for dad too. Time with each other as a couple is equally as important, because one of the greatest gifts you can ever give to your kids is to love your spouse. This brings the stability and security that only a tight home can give a kid.
6. Pray the plan into being
It is crucial that a couple prays together for their marriage, for each child, and for issues in the home. Not only do we need to pray daily for our children, but we need to be praying daily with our children. As they get older, we may not be having bedtime prayers anymore, but we need to continue to pray together about significant events in their lives, and in the lives of other family members. To pray together with your kids (and your teens) during difficult times in their lives is so critical. For them to actually hear you holding them up before the Lord is a very beautiful gift. They will understand God’s place in your life as you pray together as a family.