THE FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG FAMILY - HAVE NO OTHER GODS
Ten Commandments for Strong Families Sermon Series - Part 1
Exodus 20:2
We begin a new series today “The Ten Commandments For Strong Families.”
Why is having a strong family important?
Quotes about family:
“The most important thing in the world are family and love.”
“Peace is found in the smile of a child, the love of a mother, the joy of a father and in the
togetherness of a family.”
“Never lose sight of the fact that the world judges you on how you treat your family.”
“A good quality life is finding a good balance between work, family and friends.”
“Nothing is better than going home to family, eating good food and relaxing with them.”
Michael J. Fox said “Family is not an important thing, it’s everything.”
Barbara Bush (former first lady) said “To us family is putting our arms around each other and
being there.”
“No marriage or family will ever reach its full potential unless everyone in it works together in
unity of purpose, respecting one another and relying on each other’s strengths.”
“Your family needs to be appreciated, even when they are driving you crazy. As much as they
make you mad, annoy you, interrupt you, curse at you, try to control you, these are the people
who know you best and will stand by you even when you’re being a hot mess.”
“Your family will expose both your strength and your weakness.”
We go through life wondering what it’s all about, but at the end we find out it’s all about family.”
Call it a clan, a network, a tribe or a family. Whatever it is you need one.”
The Bible says: 1 Timothy 5:8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for
members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Your family will leave it’s imprint on you, whether good or bad, all your life you will be
responding to their impact. That’s why it’s important that we build strong families. God wants
us to take care of our families, to interact with them, but in a godly way.
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Most of us love our families, but most of us struggle being around them. Over the next 10 weeks
we’re going to learn how to be around our families in a godly way. Just as they affect us, we also
have the opportunity to affect them. So often we get so stuck in our flesh, in old dysfunctional
ways we have been around them. Having a strong family will benefit us mentally, emotionally
and spiritually. That’s why God wants us to invest in strengthening our families.
If we want strong, godly families, we have to look for opportunities to set the tone for godliness
in our families. God wants us to consider ourselves to be ambassadors to our families.
For years we have been in a values vacuum. When you look on television whose family values
are you going to follow? the Simpsons? the Modern Family? the Waltons?
Thousands of years ago God gave 10 values for family living. They're called The Ten
Commandments. These values were meant to last for every society, and for every generation.
The Ten Commandments are about the only thing that Jews, Moslems and Christians will agree
on. For the next ten weeks we're going to look at the 10 Commandments, how they can make a
difference in your family and why God gave them.
Deut. 6:6-7 "Never forget these commands that I am giving you. Teach them to your children."
Do you know the Ten Commandments? How many do you live by? Can you name them? How
can you live by them if you can't name them?
1. I am the Lord thy God! Thou shalt have no other Gods but me!
2. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain!
3. Thou shalt keep the Sabbath Day holy!
4. Thou shalt honor father and mother!
5. Thou shalt not kill!
6. Thou shalt not commit adultery!
7. Thou shalt not steal!
8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor!
9. Do not lust!
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s property!
Why did God give the Ten Commandments?
Realize this: He gave them to help us and not hurt us. To protect us and not punish us.
When I tell a child, "Don't touch the hot stove" am I doing that for their good or for my good?
I'm doing it for theirs. Every time God says, "Don't" in the Bible it's always for a positive
purpose. Always. If you ignore god’s warnings, they will be to your own hurt.
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If you jump out a ten story window, you ignore the law of gravity. If you’re going to break God's
laws, realize they are going to break you. Likewise there are spiritual laws we should not ignore.
The Ten Commandments give us boundaries for family life. Boundaries tell us what we’re
responsible for and what we’re not. Without boundaries we tend to be dysfunctional. Without
boundaries in our family’s lives, they can get dysfunctional. If we want a strong family we have
to be intentional about implementing the 10 Commandments in their lives.
I. THE FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG FAMILY- HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE
ME
God made the first commandment about HIM because it's the most important one.
Exodus 20:2 "You shall have no other gods before Me."
What's the principle here? Put God first! Both In life and in family.
God says, I demand top priority in your life. I'm not going to play second fiddle to anything. He
deserves to be number one because He made you. Everything you have in life is from God.
What does it mean to "have no other gods before Me"?
What is a god? A god is anything that dominates your life, anything that controls your life.
People make a career their god, they make a relationship their God, they can make looking good
or exercising their God. Even good things that God has created for us to enjoy, become gods
when you give them first place in your life. God says, "U deserve first place in your life." The
foundation for a strong you and a strong family -- put God first.
Every time God gives a principle, He gives a promise:
The promise: In everything you do, put God first and He will direct you and crown your efforts
with success."
Do you want to be successful? Put God first. Wherever you want God to bless, you put Him
first in that area.
If you want a strong family, put God! If you want a strong marriage, put God first and you'll see
tremendous benefits.
II. HOW DO I PUT GOD FIRST?
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What does it mean to put God first? Let’s look at the acrostic F-I-R-S-T and I’ll give you five
ways to put God first in your life and your family.
F - FINANCES
Put God first in your finances. Proverbs 3:9-10 "Honor the Lord by giving Him the first part of
all your income, and He will fill your barns to overflow."
God says give Me the first part back and I'll bless all the rest. Money is the number one test of
your priorities. God says that your checkbook reveals what's really important to you. By simply
looking at how you spend your money a person could tell a lot about your life. The way you
spend your money says what's first in your life.
Deut. 14:23 "The purpose of tithing is to teach you to put God first in your lives." What's
tithing? God says that the first 10% of all I make goes back to Him. The purpose is simply to
teach you to put God first.
I don't know any clearer, simpler advice to give you as a pastor that cares about you than to say, if
you're in a financial mess right now, step one is put God first in your finances. Whatever you
want God to bless, you put Him first in it. Tithing teaches you to put Him first.
Tithing is an act of worship. What you give to other charities in generosity, that’s charity, but
that's not tithing. Tithing is an act of worship and you do it when you worship and where you
worship.
I - INTEREST
Putting God first in your interests, means in my fun times, play times, amusements, recreation,
hobbies, and pass times.
I Corinthians 10:31 "Whatever you do, do it all for God's glory."
How do you put God first in your interests? Do it with an attitude of gratitude. If you're out
playing tennis, say "Lord, thank you that You gave me arms to play tennis with and thank You
that you gave me hand/eye coordination that I wouldn't have had if it weren't for You."
Everything you do with an attitude of gratitude puts God first in that area. So you like to make
crafts or whatever? Enjoy the gifts and abilities He's given you with a grateful heart.
R - RELATIONSHIPS
If you want God first in your life you're going to have to choose your friends carefully.
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Prov. 27:19 "What a man is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses."
What does friends have to do with God being first in my life? Because you become like the
people you spend the most time with. If you spend time with people who take God lightly, you
will tend to become a casual believer. But if you spend time with people who are committed and
take God and His word seriously you will become a stronger, committed Christian. Whoever you
spend time with that is what you're going to be like.
Who are you inviting into your home? If you're serious about building strong values in your kids
then you ought to be inviting people over to your house who model the kind of behavior you
want your kids to have. If you don't provide models for them they're going to get it from peers
and TV.
Prov. 12:26 "A righteous man is careful about his friendships."
There are some relationships that are dead wrong for you. I've seen so many believers stumble
because of the ties they form with people who don’t have Christian values. They want to get
married. They get attached to the wrong person and you see their vitality drain away from their
lives. Choose your relationships carefully. They may pull you down before you pull them up.
Put Him first in your relationships.
S - SCHEDULE
Put God first in your schedule, in your time. "Make the most of your time, grasp firmly what you
know to be the will of God."
How do I put God first in my schedule. I ask Him to help me use my time wisely. You do not
have time to do everything. Selection is the name of the game.
How do you select? You ask God to help you. You have just enough time to do God's will.
When God made you, He has a plan for your life. If you find yourself having more things to do
than you have time to do, it means you're doing some things that aren't God's will. They may be
good things. But God never puts more on you than He puts in you to bear it up. He doesn't ask
you to do more than you have time to do. When you start feeling frustrated and hassled and
frazzled it's because you're trying to do more than God wants you to do.
If God is going to be first in your family, in your life, you need a daily appointment with God.
Have a quiet time. Talk to God in prayer about the things that are important to you. It doesn't
matter when you do it, but you need a daily time that you check in with God. Review my
schedule, my goals, my priorities. God doesn’t expect you to do everything."
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Even Jesus felt the need for daily prayer. "Very early in the morning...Jesus got up and went off
to a solitary place where He prayed." Schedule a daily appointment with God.
Spend time with your family, say a brief prayer together as a family. Even this says, when we eat
we put God first in my life.
T - TROUBLES
Who do you turn to when you face unexpected problems and pressures, when you have a crisis?
God says, "Turn to Me first." Many people a tight situation run to everybody else before they
stop and pray to God!
They try to fix the problem and when all fails, that’s when they say, "I guess now all we can do is
pray." Prayer should not be your last resort, it should be your first. He says He is an ever present
help a refuge in time of need. God is waiting for us to turn to him in our troubles. He commands
us to turn to Him first.
Psalm 50:15 "Call upon me in your day of trouble and I will deliver you and you will honor me."
God says, Put Me first, even in the tough times. Some people think, I don't want to bother him
with my problems. God says, "It's no bother. I can handle your and every other person's
problems at the same time. Bring it to me. Don't carry it all yourself."
When troubles happen, we naturally worry. At some point, if we want victory, we’re going to
have to turn our worry into prayer!
Worry says, I’m not trusting God to fix this, he won’t correct this, or stop this bad thing from
happening. Worry says I have to control it, I have to stop it, or I have to make it happen. That’s
not putting God's first in your life. When we stop worrying and start trusting, that’s when we
put God first in our lives.
Stop playing God. When we try to control, manipulate, fix and fret over something, we’re
assuming responsibility He didn't intend for us to have.
When God is not first in any of these five areas we begin to worry about it.
When He's not first in my finances I worry about them.
When God is not first in my relationships, I worry about them.
When God isn't first in my problems, trials, troubles, I worry about them.
When God isn't first place in my schedule, I worry about my schedule. But when I stop and do a
priority check. "God, You be number one in this area, You handle it, You're in charge." I take a
deep breath and relax.
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Matthew 6;33 "Seek first the kingdom of God [put Him first in every area of my life] and all
these other things shall be added unto you."
Jesus said that right in the middle of a sermon on worry. Putting God first is the antidote to
worry.
If you want to build a successful life and a strong family you've got to have the right foundation.
You've got to put God first.
Build your life on God's values. His values will last. If you want t a strong family with the right
foundation make God first in my finances, interests, relationships, schedule, troubles. Believe
that by following his principle, He'll keep His promise to bless your life in every area.
