The Key Word for a Happy Home

Author of Lord Keep Your Mansions, Just Save My Children

Some weeks ago I sat on the platform in a certain church. I was going to be the preacher of the hour and the worship service was in progress. As I looked over the congregation it occurred to me that what we call the church is the 100% factor of the families who comprise it. A building as stable as the foundation on which it is built and so the church and for that matter the community, the city and the nation is as stable as the families that go to make it up.

The family is the ‘bottom line’ of human society. It is no wonder then, that the father of all terrorists, the devil, is doing all he can in all the ways that he can to destabilize, discredit and if possible make the family irrelevant in the 21st century.

Lately I’ve been preaching a sermon entitled, "The Christian Home in the 21st Century" (http://www.revivalsermons.org/audio.shtml). In it, I asked the listener what our homes would be like if we treated our family members who we love as kind as we treat total strangers? I follow up with a question and that is how long would we last on the job if we talked to the boss the way we talk to our spouse and children? One fellow recently answered, "Until I got the words out of my mouth!

It is strange that while we love the other members of our families we are often not kind and while we don’t love strangers we will usually go out of our way to be intentionally kind. One day on the job a man was heard to say, "I can’t wait to get home at night. I get so tired of being kind all day."

The truth is when we deal with people on the job or even with strangers we do so on the premise of mutual respect and esteem. These two qualities are often lacking in the relationships that are nearest and dearest to us. A man was telling me one time that we should treat a spouse like a dog. His point was that we are usually kind to the dog! Why does a dog have to be man’s best friend? Should not the members of our families be our closest and dearest friends?

Mutual respect and esteem are manifested and built up by the way we communicate with each other. When we are in public or on the job, we choose our words carefully. How different it would be if we were to consistently follow the same practice at home. Jesus said that by our words we would be justified and by our words we would be condemned. (Matthew 12:37).

Though our Lord was referring to a future judgment there is no doubt that in the here and now the way we talk to the members of our family has an immediate impact on how we relate to each other.

I was talking with a man who was about to retire. I asked him if he had his life to live over again how would he want it to be different. He thought for a moment and replied, "I think I would want to be more kind."

We lived in Latin America for a number of years. One thing that impressed me was that more often than not when a member of the church would get in a car, to go anywhere, they would bow their heads and say a little prayer for safety. Our family had always had the same custom, but it was usually in cases of going on a long trip. Often when I am preaching the sermon on the Christian Home in the 21st century I challenge the listeners to pray in their cars, but not when they are going on a long trip or just around the corner, but rather when they pull into their driveway or pull up in front of their house. Just before they get out, I challenge them to offer this little prayer, "Lord, as I go in the house, help me to be kind".

With mutual respect and esteem manifested by kindness, our problems at home will be noticeable fewer and those which remain will be more bearable. The devil is waging terrorism against our families. Our country has established a Department of Homeland Security. As families we should do no less. We must not stand back and watch our families be denigrated and destroyed. A place to begin is by being kind.

You are invited to visit Pastor O’Ffill’s website at http://www.revivalsermons.org