Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Resurrection Family Life
(Colossians 3:18-21)
Genuine commitment to heavenly living produces practical effects in the home. Christian homes should reflect a little “touch of heaven,” being vastly different from their tumultuous counterparts in the world. The operative word in that last sentence is different. The world’s philosophy of marriage and child rearing leaves much to be desired, Biblically speaking. Several key components comprise Christian family life:
First, there is the matter of male headship and wifely submission (18). Submission on the part of the wife is “fit in the Lord,” meaning it is suitable for every Christian wife to live a life of submission to her husband. Male headship is not a matter of inherent superiority. Rather, male headship reflects God’s order in the home.
Secondly, husbands must love their wives (19). Ephesians 5 instructs husbands to love “as Christ loved the church,”—sacrificially and fully. For a picture of what love looks like, read I Corinthians 13. In addition, men are forbidden from being bitter against their wives. That means there’s no room for holding a grudge or allowing an emotional wall to build in the relationship.
Thirdly, children are to be in obedience to their parents, with the parents (especially the father) being sensitive in his parenting role (20). It appears from our passage that some measure of disobedience in children may be a direct result of high-handed parenting tactics on the part of the father. At any rate, the Christian ideal for the home involves a positive relationship between parents and children, husband and wife.
Any way you slice it, the Christian home should be fundamentally different because it is fundamentally Christian.
