Whatever Happened To Family? (ATP)
Whatever happened to family? Pastor touched on something so important recently about laying down your wants and desire especially for “me time” for your kids and your family. It’s sad. Family is one of God’s greatest blessings and time with family is often the first to sacrifice next to work, friends, and others. I believe other things are simply a distraction from the devil used to break down family. As a kid, my family was always together doing things or just being home together enjoying the people God blessed us with.
1 Timothy 5:8 (NKJV)
But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Family is an interesting thing, if for nothing else you don’t get to pick them. It’s maybe one of the few things in life that are really left to chance. Or is it?
As many of you know, I love to break scripture down. I believe we can have a better understanding of scripture when we understand why certain words were used more than others. After all, when we talk to each other, don’t we choose our words to reflect our intentions? If we do, why would we expect God wouldn’t?
In the above scripture there are a few things I want to focus on. They are the words “provide” and “household”. The word provide means to consider in advance, think of beforehand, to provide for one, to take thought for, or care for a thing. Household can be either ones natural family or their spiritual one (God’s family). I believe both are equally significant and they are symbiotic.
The reason people have relaxed their standards for so many things is because people as a whole have relaxed their view of the Lord. See, even though our society never was completely Christian, it was strongly influenced by Christianity. Founding fathers established this country based in ideas stolen from scripture. That is not to say that everything that was done was scriptural, as we know many things were done wrong. But, the foundation for this country, was that of a Godly origin.
Especially in recent years we have watched the degradation of society and it’s fall away from the commands of God. As people have “progressed” they have embraced things that are wholly unholy. This shift in acceptance has been systematically shunning everything God holds sacred. It is no wonder that a few generations pass and the children have no concept of what sacred even is, nor do they care.
Family is a God ordained construct. God desired a family and so He created one, and thus humanity was born. Humans have since the beginning had a problem staying right with God. And shunning family? We see this as early as Cain and Abel. Cain killed his brother out of his own emotion, allowing it to rise above truth. As humans grow increasingly distracted by their desires, they start laying aside what truly matters. Family is on the chopping block.
This isn’t just a problem with our natural families but equally with our spiritual ones. We have a society that has been rebuilt on the “you do you” mentality, and this is exactly what they do. Our relationship to our natural and spiritual families are not separate but tightly woven together. They are attacked by the same way of thinking and so when one suffers, the other does as well.
Do we have a choice then in our families? We absolutely do! If we decide to neglect them, the family structure breaks apart. What we are left with is something that is disorderly and dysfunctional, not blessed by God. Whatever is not blessed by God is subject to the curse.
So what must one do to change this undoing? We must establish the heart of God, first in ourselves, then in our children. As we raise up new generations that embrace God’s truth, the heart of God, which is His family, will be reborn and rise to its rightful place of importance. Each family living as they should will influence others to do the same.
Joshua 24:15
And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Be Blessed,
Pastor Jeff
