Family Structure, Not Family Feud
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)
Family is often one of the most important things in a person’s life. We love our family. We cherish our time with our family. But sometimes, our family makes us angry. They say things and do things that hurt us in ways that no one else can.
In Ephesians, Paul gives us direction for our families. He lays out how husbands and wives are to treat each other. They are to love and respect each other, as an example of Christ and the Church. Wives are to submit to their husbands, as the Church submits to Christ. this does not mean that they are to be inferior but that they are to work together with their husband and allow (and even encourage) him to carry out his responsibility as a leader. Husbands are to love their wives and show her the respect that she deserves. They are to be willing to lay down their life for her, just as Jesus laid down his life for all people, including us.
Paul tells children that they should obey their parents, as God commanded and promised through Moses. They are to treat their parents with respect, and listen to them. And parents are to treat their children with love. They are to train them in God’s Word and instruct them. Through this, children learn to love God and to do what God asks of us. They learn to pass on God’s Word to the next generation.
God has structured our families to pass on his Word. He gives parents the responsibility to train their children in his Word and children are to listen to and obey their parents. Husbands and wives are to work together for the common good of bringing up their children in the Lord. And God blesses us richly through these interactions. He gives us all roles that reflect the relationship that he has with his people. Amen.
The song for today is “Our Father by Whose Name” by the Festival Choir & Hosanna Chorus