Do you want a house or a home?
Did you know there's a difference between living in a house and living in a home? A house is a building where love can be void. But a home is a place where true love is experienced. Decide to make your house a home today!
Did you know the person who is going to get the best nights sleep tonight in your community isn't sleeping in the biggest house with the biggest bed? The person who will get the best nights sleep is the one who is at peace in their relationship with God. And we cannot be at peace with God if we aren't at peace with one another.
The Bible says in 1 John 4: 8, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." 1 John 4: 20 says, "If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love their brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen."
This real love doesn't begin in your brothers heart. It doesn't begin in your sisters heart, or your wife's heart or your husband's heart. It begins in your heart. Ephesians 4: 26 says, "In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."
How many husbands and wives will go to bed tonight without saying, "I love you?" How many children will go to bed tonight without hearing their parents express their love for each other or for them? The answer is, "Too many."
There have been times in my life that I have asked my wife to forgive me for something like losing my patience or I've asked my children to forgive me. Do you think that lowered their respect for me? No! It increased their love and respect for me.
Very few parents have the humilty to ever tell their childen "I'm sorry" when they have acted out of line. Or when they haven't provided a loving home environment for them to grow up.
My wife and I have been married for 33 years and our adult children will tell you that they never went to sleep one night without knowing their mother and father loved each other and loved them.
We haven't remained married for 33 years because we happen to agree on everything. We've been married for 33 years because our love is real. As we've aged physically we've also matured spiritually. The two don't always go hand-in-hand. We are partners for life! And we enjoy a very close relationship with our married adult children and their families today.
Luke 2: 52 tells us that "Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and men." This is the challenge for his follower's! To mature in wisdom as we mature in years. How are you growing? What does your spouse see and hear? What do your children and grandchildren see and hear?
As you mature in your relationship with the Lord the Fruit of his Spirit will be seen growing in your life. Paul lists that fruit in Galatians 5: 22, 23, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Is this fruit seen growing in your life? Is it seen growing in your home?
You can help make your house a home by being the peacemaker God wants you to be. You can help make your house a home by humbling yourself before your spouse and children. You can help make your house a home by growing that Fruit of the Spirit and nourishing others in your home with that fruit.
It's amazing how love usually works! People usually respond in kind. If we're to build relationships with others we can't isolate ourselves and wait for others to take a step towards reconciliation, we must take that step first!
In 2 Corinthians 5: 19 Paul wrote that God has committed to us the "message of reconciliation." Be the man or the woman, the husband or the wife, that God wants you to be. Share the peace under your roof and help your family get the best nights sleep in the community tonight.