Building A Strong Christian Family

BUILDING A STRONG CHRISTIAN FAMILY

Psalms 27:1-5

Talking to an expatriate worker in the Middle East, one reporter asks the question: What motivate you to endure all the hardships, discriminations, injustices and loneliness while working in other country? The expatriate answered, “I’m doing all this sacrifices for my family.”

Being a Filipino Overseas Worker (OFW), I am one of the many expatriates working in the Middle East and I can tell you by experience how hard it is to work in a foreign land with the culture totally different from your own. We all agree that we are doing all this sacrifices for our family. But ironically, instead of building our family, statistic show us the other stories of broken marriages, fatherless children and ruin lives.

If we will just be sensitive to what these circumstances are telling us, we will realize that it is impossible to make a successful and happy family without God as the foundation of the house. The Scripture said:

Psa 127:1 [1] EXCEPT THE Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; except the Lord keeps the city, the watchman wakes but in vain.(1)

Psa 127:2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to take rest late, to eat the bread of [anxious] toil--for He gives [blessings] to His beloved in sleep.

Psa 127:3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.(2)

Psa 127:4 As arrows are in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth.

Psa 127:5 Happy, blessed, and fortunate is the man whose quiver is filled with them! They will not be put to shame when they speak with their adversaries [in gatherings] at the [city’s] gate.(AMP)

In the year 1787, one statesman stands in the US constitutional convention. Here is the part excerpt from his speech.

“I have lived for a long time [81 years]; and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that “Except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it.” I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall proceed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel: we shall be divided by our little, partial, local interests; our prospects will be confounded; and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a by-word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing government by human wisdom, and leave it to chance, war, or conquest. I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers, imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business;’ and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service”. – The man is Benjamin Franklin who gave his Speech in Convention for forming a Constitution for the United States, 1787.

If the great men of history acknowledge that the great God is the foundation of even the great country, when we will realize that God is also the foundation of the strong family?

I. THE FOUNDATION OF A STRONG CHRISTIAN FAMILY

We must put our dependence on God in all the affairs of the family. We must look on God as the builder, the keeper and the ultimate provider.

1. God is the builder of our family

Psa 127:1 [1] EXCEPT THE Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it;…

As a parent, it is our responsibility to train our children and prepare them for their future. We want them to be strong and we build them according to the knowledge that we acquired in our experiences in life. Those human strategy and disciplines are not bad.

However we have to realize that God is the real owner of our children. He is the real builder of our family. We must acknowledge Him as the real head of our family and we must build our family according to His Word. All our effort will be a failure in the end unless we recognize God as the real head in our family.

God use pillars to build your house:

• God uses the pillar of His word to build our faith on Him

• God uses the pillar of prayer to build our trust on Him

• God uses the pillar of love to build our bond

• God uses the pillar of understanding to build our character