Lord’s Day, Vol. 11 No. 45

The Making of a Christian Home

Colossians 3:15-16 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 

INTRODUCTION

What makes a Christian home? Many who claim to be Christians do not have a Christian home. Some people have a clear Christian testimony of their salvation, but they do not have a Christian home.

What makes a Christian home? You may say, “My husband is a Christian. Doesn’t that make my home Christian? No, not necessarily. You may say, “The mother of the home is a Christian. Doesn’t that make it a Christian home?” You may even attend church faithfully, but none of these things make a home Christian.

• PEACE 

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.” (v14a)

A truly Christian home is a place of peace with the peace of God ruling in people’s hearts. It is not a battleground, but a refuge. It is not a place of fighting, but a place of fellowship. It is a place fortified against the Devil.

In God’s Word, we read about the peace with God and the peace of God. Jesus Christ was sent forth to earth, and He gave Himself to be crucified on the cross. He bled and died for our sins, tasting death for every man. God punished sin in the body of His own Son when He became sin for us. He died, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day. When we ask Him to forgive our sins and by faith receive Him as our Saviour, we are born into God’s family. We become children of God, and we have peace with God. 

However, having peace with God does not mean we have the peace of God. Look closely at a passage of Scripture in Philippians 4:5-7,

5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

The world cannot understand this peace. Psalm 119:165 says, “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them”.  This means that nothing blows them off course. The world cannot understand this kind of peace.

If our home is a place of battling and fighting, it is not a Christian home according to the standard of God’s Word. A Christian home is a place where the peace of God rules.

(2) THANKFULNESS

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts , to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.” (v14b)

In a Christian home, we find thankfulness. It is so easy to become ungrateful. It is so easy to murmur and complain. We desire everything to be right in our own sight. We want everyone to live right and do right. There is little forbearance and forgiveness. We allow ourselves to become critical, and criticism is contagious. It leads to an ungrateful spirit.

In a Christian home, people do not grapple with what they have to eat; they thank God for His every provision. They do not grapple about what they have to wear. They do not murmur and complain all the time about one family member or another; they thank God that they are all still alive, living under the same roof and enjoying one another’s company. Be thankful for the time that we are together as a family on this earth. Enjoy it.

When we come to the end of life, those days wasted are gone, lost forever. How many of those days would you like to get back in the end? No one will get any of them back. The peace of God rules a Christian home, and it is a place of thankfulness.

(3) THE WORD OF GOD

Let the Word of God dwell in you richly in all wisdom.” (v15a)

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 10:10, “Wisdom is profitable to direct.” Many homes do not have God’s direction because they do not have the Word of God dwelling in them richly. We do not have a Christian home if we do not have God’s Word to guide us. Hide God’s Word in your heart. Let God’s Word be read, sermons listened and cherished. 

Take the time to read the Bible as a family. Emphasize the things of God. This will help us and our children as we seek to raise them for the glory of God. Take time to read God’s Word, and pray with our family each day. There is a true saying “The family that prays together, stays together.”

(4) CHRIST-HONOURING MUSIC 

Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts.” (v16b)

The Bible says that we are to be “teaching and admonishing”. “To admonish” means to counsel against wrong practices. It means to caution or give advice. We are to be “teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.”

Every beautiful Christian family is a home with Christian music that honours the Lord. The family needs to sing together. We have allowed the television and the internet to keep the family from coming together. We have found so many things to do that we have no time for one another.

We may think our children have everything they need in their rooms. They may have their own television, computer, phone, and headphones; but we have no idea what they are doing, listening to, or watching. 

This may sound out of sync with our modern times, but we need biblical homes. What do we teach in the home? We should be teaching hymns and spiritual songs. We should be singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord. The Bible says, “Singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

CONCLUSION

Many say they have a Christian home, but if these ingredients: peace, thankfulness, the Word of God and Christ-honouring music are not found, then we cannot call it a Christian home. These ingredients may seem simple, but they make a world of difference. May the Lord help us to build truly Christian homes. With God-honouring homes comes a God-honouring church. Amen.

Yours lovingly,

Pastor Lek Aik Wee