"Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful."
1 Corinthians 4:2
Stewardship is the wisdom and faith to use what God has given us for His glory. Over the last week we have seen a few areas in which this is vitally important, and it is both humbling and convicting to recognize my responsibility of being faithful to God. In a world that does not like to accept personal responsibility this is not a popular message. It seems today that many people want to pass the buck, but we as believers must realize that God holds each of us personally accountable for what we do with what He has entrusted to us.
One of the most important areas in which we must be faithful is in the home. There are two vital relationships in the home that I want to look at. First, there is the relationship between a husband and wife. When we talk of faithfulness in marriage, most just assume that we are speaking of not having a physical relationship with any one else but our spouse. While that is true, there is surely so much more to being faithful in marriage. There is one key word that can revolutionize our marriages, and that word is unconditional. Faithfulness to our spouses is dependent on nothing else than the commitment that we made to God to love, honor, and cherish that person until the way that we die. If this word unconditional could become ingrained in the heart of each couple, we would see the divorce rate dramatically fall in our nation. We often speak of love being unconditional, but we must also understand that respect is unconditional as well. To not love our spouse unconditionally is to show a lack of respect, and to not respect our spouse unconditionally is to show a lack of love. There are no perfect marriages, but there is a perfect God that has given us a pattern that we are to follow. He has loved us unconditionally, and He implores us to do the same as husband and wife.
Second, there is the relationship between parents and children. I am blessed to have four children. As they have gotten older and I have grown as a parent, I see how important it is for me to be a faithful and consistent example of Jesus Christ for their lives. The more I learn of God as my Father the more I see how I must be a father to them. Parents need to be faithful in their love, and children need to be able to hear, feel, and see love from their parents. This love is the yearning of every child's heart, because they long for someone to care not only about their welfare but more importantly just about them as an individual. Parents need to be faithful in their discipline. The Bible says that the parent that does not discipline their child hates their child. That is pretty stern language, but it is also absolute truth. God has entrusted a parent to instruct a child in the way that he should go, and a parent that will allow a child to run the course of life without proper discipline is condemning that child to a life of shame. Finally, a parent needs to be consistent in their walk with Christ. Some children are confused about what is right and wrong, because they have watched parents be blown about by their feelings and emotions. The old "do as I say and not as I do" argument just does not work. Our children are watching for us to show them the pattern by which they should make their lives. Every parent must be closely following Christ so that our children will surely be following Him as they follow us.
May you be faithful in your home today!
One of the most important areas in which we must be faithful is in the home. There are two vital relationships in the home that I want to look at. First, there is the relationship between a husband and wife. When we talk of faithfulness in marriage, most just assume that we are speaking of not having a physical relationship with any one else but our spouse. While that is true, there is surely so much more to being faithful in marriage. There is one key word that can revolutionize our marriages, and that word is unconditional. Faithfulness to our spouses is dependent on nothing else than the commitment that we made to God to love, honor, and cherish that person until the way that we die. If this word unconditional could become ingrained in the heart of each couple, we would see the divorce rate dramatically fall in our nation. We often speak of love being unconditional, but we must also understand that respect is unconditional as well. To not love our spouse unconditionally is to show a lack of respect, and to not respect our spouse unconditionally is to show a lack of love. There are no perfect marriages, but there is a perfect God that has given us a pattern that we are to follow. He has loved us unconditionally, and He implores us to do the same as husband and wife.
Second, there is the relationship between parents and children. I am blessed to have four children. As they have gotten older and I have grown as a parent, I see how important it is for me to be a faithful and consistent example of Jesus Christ for their lives. The more I learn of God as my Father the more I see how I must be a father to them. Parents need to be faithful in their love, and children need to be able to hear, feel, and see love from their parents. This love is the yearning of every child's heart, because they long for someone to care not only about their welfare but more importantly just about them as an individual. Parents need to be faithful in their discipline. The Bible says that the parent that does not discipline their child hates their child. That is pretty stern language, but it is also absolute truth. God has entrusted a parent to instruct a child in the way that he should go, and a parent that will allow a child to run the course of life without proper discipline is condemning that child to a life of shame. Finally, a parent needs to be consistent in their walk with Christ. Some children are confused about what is right and wrong, because they have watched parents be blown about by their feelings and emotions. The old "do as I say and not as I do" argument just does not work. Our children are watching for us to show them the pattern by which they should make their lives. Every parent must be closely following Christ so that our children will surely be following Him as they follow us.
May you be faithful in your home today!
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