Building Healthy Families Series

Building Healthy Families

Joshua 24:15

Joshua 24:15 14Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.

15And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Listen to the Contemporary English Version of Joshua 24:15 14 Then Joshua told the people: Worship the LORD, obey him, and always be faithful. Get rid of the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the Euphrates River and in Egypt. 15 But if you don’t want to worship the LORD, then choose right now! Will you worship the same idols your ancestors did? Or since you’re living on land that once belonged to the Amorites, maybe you’ll worship their gods. I won’t. My family and I are going to worship and obey the LORD!

In order to have a stable society we have to have families that are healthy and stable. The only way to have healthy and stable families they have to be founded upon the word of God.

Both the Old and New Testament reveal the family as the basic unit of society. Ron Philips in His book, Home Improvement; A Maintenance Manual for Families says;

“The family is a corporate unit which serves as the center of social and religious training.”

In other words as the family goes, so goes society. When the family structure is destroyed or ignored then it will have a devastating and destructive affect on society.

The family is or should be the first and most significant influence in the spiritual training of children. The children that we raise today will be the leaders of tomorrow.

That’s why the structure and meaning of family is being attacked. There are people who no longer respect the biblical and traditional view of marriage and family.

Many see this modern day attack to redefine the family as something new, but it’s not. It started with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

In the book of Genesis we see Satan’s evil attack on the family when he tempted Adam and Eve to act and live independently of God’s word and will for their lives.

As you know the first family caved into this seduction and temptation and it ahs been spiraling out of control ever since.

Satan is working in our day to construct an unstable society without God and biblical values by redefining marriage and the family. If this happens there is only one thing you can count on. An unstable society that is bankrupt of godly morals.

To keep this from happening we have and maintain families that are spiritually healthy and stable. Let’s look at the definition of family.

According to Webster a family is; a: The basic unit in society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their own or adopted children;

The Encyclopedia Britannica says the family is: A group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood, or adoption, constituting a single household and interacting with each other in their respective social positions of husband and wife, mother and father, son and daughter, brother and sister.

My question is, “What are the Elements that build a Spiritual healthy and stable family? I want to share with you this morning the six elements found in our scripture reading in the form of the acronym F.A.M.I.L.Y!

Let me give you this acronym very quickly and then I will touch on each one briefly.

F = A Faithful Heart:

A = An Affirming Faith:

M = A Meditating Mind

I = Immovable Commitment

L = Laboring Hands

Y = A Yearning and Yielding Desire

I. A Faithful Heart Toward God:

Joshua 24:14 14Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.

Joshua 24:14 14 “So honor the LORD and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD alone.

A. We Need a Working Definition of Faithfulness:

What is "faithfulness?"

Well, if you looked in the dictionary, you would find a technical definition that says, "To follow through with a commitment regardless of difficulty."

To be steadfast in affection or allegiance: A firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty: These are good definitions.