Principles For Healthy Family Relationships Series

Consider the following principles for developing a healthy relationship with your family.

I. BE AFFECTIONATE

A. To be affectionate means to “have a tender attachment and fondness for” something or someone.

B. A family should develop relationships where there is a tender attachment and a fondness for one another.

C. Affection can be developed when spouses and families read the Word of God together, pray together, worship together, and spend time together.

E. Even with a grown family, you can still foster godly affection for your children and their spouses and your grandchildren.

1. "Don’t speak evil against each other." (James 4:11, NLT)

2. "Don’t grumble about each " (James 5:9, NLT)

3. "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other..." (James 5:16, NLT)

4. "Finally, all of you should be of one mind, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds." (1 Peter 3:8, NLT)

5. "Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate when people say unkind things about you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God wants you to do, and he will bless you for it." (1 Peter 3:9, NLT)

II. FOSTER ROMANCE AND INTIMACY.

A. Romance in the marriage is the mortar that keeps the marriage vows sealed.

B. Do kind things for your spouse.

C. Be spontaneous, adventurous, daring, thoughtful, patient, and ready to forgive.

D. Keep the sparks of intimacy burning in the relationship.

1. “The husband should not deprive his wife of sexual intimacy, which is her right as a married woman, nor should the wife deprive her husband...So do not deprive each other of sexual relations. The only exception to this rule would be the agreement of both husband and wife to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time, so they can give themselves more completely to prayer. Afterward they should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt them because of their lack of self-control.” (1 Cor. 7:3, 5 NLT).

2. "And you husbands must love your wives with the same love Christ showed the church. He gave up his life for her" (Ephesians 5:25, NLT)

3. "You wives will submit to your husbands as you do to the Lord." (Ephesians 5:22, NLT)

III. MAINTAIN STRONG UNITY.

A. "But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God." (1 Corinthians 11:3, NKJV)

B. "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged." (Colossians 3:18-21, NKJV)"

IV. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.

A. "Now I am coming to you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you. I don’t want what you have; I want you. And anyway, little children don’t pay for their parents’ food. It’s the other way around; parents supply food for their children." (2 Corinthians 12:14, NLT)

B. "But those who won’t care for their own relatives, especially those living in the same household, have denied what we believe. Such people are worse than unbelievers." (1 Timothy 5:8, NLT)

V. CONSISTENTLY TRAIN AND DISCIPLE.

A. Take time to instruct and discipline your children in the things of God.

B. Be a spiritual mentor for your family.

C. "And now a word to you fathers. Don’t make your children angry by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4, NLT)

D. “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 11:18-20, NLT).

VII. CONCLUSION

A. Developing healthy family relationships is a way you can provide spiritual protection for you and your family. Satan seeks to destroy and devour the family. It is our responsibility to take a stand, in the home, and declare, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”