REFLECTIONS

Purpose to Live For

November 2, 1939, a banner day for a budding branch of my family. That day Mom and Dad celebrated the arrival of a screaming, bald headed baby boy. And me? Okay, I was the center of all the commotion that day; but the celebration was about the growth of our family.

Family is God’s creation. He began his on the sixth day, God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female. And gave them a purpose to live for: “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” (Genesis 1:27-28) For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. (Genesis 2:24)

God gave them orderly roles: He said, Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy… (Ephesians 5:25-26)

Wives, fit in with your husbands’ plans; for then if they refuse to listen when you talk to them about the Lord, they will be won by your respectful, pure behavior. Your godly lives will speak to them better than any words… Be beautiful inside, in your hearts, with the lasting charm of a gentle and quiet spirit that is so precious to God. (1 Peter 3:1-2, 4 TLB)

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”-which is the first commandment with a promise— “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”  (Ephesians 6:1-3)

And God’s instruction didn’t stop there. Train a child in the way he should go, / and when he is old he will not turn from it. (Proverbs 22:6) And He meant it:

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. (1 Peter 3:8)

When we grow our families and instill God’s design into it, emotionally, behaviorally, and spiritually, we express our love for one another. When we express our love for one another, are we not expressing our love for God.

            “[So] as for me and my [family], we will serve the Lord.”

“You are the light of the world,”

Richard +

www.reflectingthesavior.org

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