Saturday, September 13, 2008

What does it mean to be "pro-family"?

With all of the talk about "pro-family" values swirling around the media, I thought I would break down what it means to be pro-family according to God's unchanging word. You see the God who created man and woman and instituted the family is the same God we serve today. He has some specific guidelines for families and when families begin adopting these guidelines God's beautiful plan for families begins to be revealed to a hurting world.


Just because someone is pro-life does not mean they are pro-family.

Just because someone has children does not make them pro-family.

Just because someone claims to be a christian does not make them pro-family.



To be "for your family" you must first understand how God has designed the family to function.



First and foremost God has designed the father to be head of the home. He is to embrace this calling wholeheartedly as protector, provider and spiritual leader.



"For the husband is head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church..."
Ephesians 5:24
"Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything." Ephesians 5:24
As a wife I find great comfort in the fact that I am not the head of my home. I try to embrace my role daily as Chris' helper. I enjoy praying for him, encouraging him and being a trusted counselor when he asks my ideas and opinions.
God's hierarchy of authority does not offend me in the least. Our God who loves us and knows us better than anyone saw fit to place the father's as the head of the home. I trust my God's decision in this area.
But, trusting my God's decision is not enough. I must next embrace the high calling he has given me within the family unit. I can say God knows best, but if I do not daily seek to obey him in regard to my role in the family I would be living as if I knew what was best. God's word is very clear when it comes to the purpose he has for young women.
"That they may teach they young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed." Titus 2:4-5
Titus is very clear that a woman's role within the family is to love her husband and children and be keeper of their home. This role is to approached with the utmost care and attention. For to love my husband as he provides for us and seeks to lead us spiritually is a wonderful way to show our children how wonderful their daddy really is. To love my children and seek to make our home a safe haven from the world will have more impact on the next generation than any career I could strive after. If I am not successful in the role God has given me in my home and family it would never matter how successful I was in any career paths.
Not only does being "pro-family" embrace the roles God has given man and woman, but an individual who claims to be pro-family must love their children and invest in their lives daily.
"Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord:and the fruit of the womb is his reward."
Psalms 127:3
Children are a reward from God. We must accept the rewards God bestows with humility and seek daily to raise them up as a godly heritage. It is very hard to raise warriors for Christ if our children are involved in everything that the world deems valuable. From government schools to little league to television, if children are receiving the majority of their training from others we can expect them to display the values and priorities that they see being lived before them. A few verses to consider in light of the educational choices and activities in which we allow our children to be involved.
"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law doth he meditate day and night." Psalms 1:1-2
Are my children daily sitting in the seats of the ungodly for education and counsel? Do my children have the opportunity to meditate on his word day and night? or Are my children so busy with the things of this world that they only have time to consider God on Sundays when they are sent to Sunday school and their teacher teachers them a 20 minute lesson?
"And thou shalt teach them diligently unto they children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up." Deut. 6:7
God's word is very clear that we as fathers and mothers are to teach our children his truths, the responsibility falls on no one else.
So the next time someone talks about being "pro-family" consider their claims against the truth of God's word.
Still Learning,
Holli

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