Genuine happiness results when Christian principles are applied. This is true when considering home relationships. It has been said that more books have been written concerning the home and home relationships than any other subject. But there is one book that is far superior to all books of human origin. That book is the Bible. The books of men perish. But though “heaven and earth shall pass away, my words shall not pass away” (Matt. 24:35). Indeed, if man lives happily he must “not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).
Since God designed the home we should look to His “manual of operation” for the home—the Bible!
The wisdom of God deemed the need of a companion for man (Gen. 2:18). When Adam saw the animal kingdom with the male and female together, he would see the need of a “complement” to himself. So God created the woman and it was said, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Gen. 2:24).
Children are to be the production of love, not lust. Children deserve to be reared in an environment of loving respect. Timothy was told, “I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully” (I Tim. 5:14). It is noted that the “bearing of children” was to follow the marriage. According to Titus 2:4 and Ephesians 6:1-3, parents are to love their children and children are to honor their parents.
The Bible carefully instructs each member of the home concerning responsibility and behavior toward other family members. The husbands are to “love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Eph. 5:25). This is a sacrificial love (v. 25), a purifying love (vv. 25-26), an unbreakable and caring love (v. 31). The husband (father) is to bring the children up “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).
A wife is to love her husband (Titus 2:4). She is to submit to him (arrange her affairs under his leadership, Col. 3:18). She is to respect him (Eph. 5:33). The instruction of Paul to the wife is quite clear: “to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed” (Titus 2:5).
Children, in the Bible home, are to respect, obey and honor their parents. This is the first command with promise (see Eph. 6:1-3 and Col. 3:20). Disobedience to parents is one of the dark sins listed in Romans 1:30 and II Timothy 3:2.
When people follow the “manual of instruction” for the home—the Bible, then:
In a world of strife there will be peace.
In a world of hate there will be love.
In a world of doubt and fear there will be trust.
-Glenn B. Ramsey
