-Home Improvement
In our society today, we get many telephone calls, pieces of mail from contractors, mortgage officers, and salespeople concerning “home” improvement. Some will even give free estimates and then point out the urgency of improving the structure so as to increase or maintain its value. They often emphasize that failure to do so right now could lead to greater deterioration and reduction in its value, which could be a big loss.
Perspective On The Home
It is far more important and urgent for us to focus on the family, and the need for improvement there, than on the structure they live in. The home is very important to God. The first institution ever established – before school, government, the church etc. – was the home. There are many houses in our society today; anyone can build one. But it takes God to make a home: “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who would build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain” (Ps. 127 NASB).
God, who performed the first marriage, founded the home. He gave the necessary instruction in His design manual, the Bible, for maintaining a healthy and happy home. Therefore, as we live in obedience to His instructions, our family will be greatly blessed: “How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed” (Ps. 112:1-2). When the home is healthy, it will positively impact the Church and the community.
Need For Home Improvement
In the last year, many eyes have been focused on the fighting in the Middle East, and many hearts have been saddened by the great damage and the loss of lives. However, I believe that there is a far greater battleground where the fighting is continuous and becoming even more intense, and that is in the family. It appears that Satan has made the family his primary target.
There are many problems in the home today. One of them is that of abuse instead of affection, with little or no respect of family members for each other. Another is a breaking down instead of building up of each other, by being selfish and attacking each other’s weaknesses. A third is the suppressing of feelings instead of communicating them, which can result in separation, loneliness and rejection among family members. Fourth is the denying of problems instead of being open and honest with the Lord and with each other. Fifth is excusing one’s unacceptable behavior by blaming it on other family members, instead of recognizing problems and expressing genuine love in dealing with them. Sixth is increasing spending without any financial planning, which results in debt-bondage and the burden of extra work to get out of debt. Seventh is resenting and blaming each other instead of working together to resolve the problems with a forgiving spirit. Finally there is the lack of prayer and Bible reading by family members in the home.
Satan is viciously attacking the family, and we are losing out spiritually in the home as evidenced by the increased rate in separation and divorce. However, we need not despair; God is able to heal broken hearts, broken hopes, and broken homes.
Solutions For Home Improvement
We need to recognize the need for home improvement, to rely on God’s Word and to pray to Him. The Bible is still the best repair manual for family maintenance and home improvement. The Word of God is not obsolete, it is absolute. We can trust the Bible because God always keeps His word. It is important for us to be conscious of the fact that there is nothing too difficult for our God, and that He can do even what seems impossible to us: “Nothing will be impossible for God” (Lk. 1:37).
Unresolved issues can be overwhelming for us, but the Holy Spirit, through Peter, speaks these words to every troubled heart: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:6-7). We must pray together, listen to God as He speaks to us through His Word, and believe Him. We can never underestimate the power of prayer, as we anchor our faith in the Lord who has all authority in heaven and earth.
We must remove the barriers in family relationships by recognizing the problem, refocusing on Christ, repenting, and returning to our first love with the Lord, and then with each other. Whatever sin we maintain as a secret in our hearts controls us. But as we expose it, deal with it, and leave it at the cross, there will be help and healing. “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (Eph. 4:31-32).
We should reveal our love to each other by focusing on God’s unfailing love for us. The warmth of God’s love can iron out any wrinkle in any relationship. Yielding our entire life to God and the Holy Spirit will result in our being grateful to Him, submitting to each other, and loving even as Christ loved the Church. The husband will be loving his wife sincerely, sacrificially, selflessly, supremely above all other women. The wife will be submitting to her own husband, to love and to cherish him. Both will respect each other, and will not put each other down (Eph. 5:18-33). The children will learn from their good example.
Beginning Today
We can start home improvement today, by praying together as a family and revealing our love for each other in practical ways, by listening to each other, by respecting each other, by valuing each other, by validating each other, and by encouraging each other to grow in grace and in the Lord. The first steps toward home improvement begin with God and these simple guidelines based on His Word. The trials God allows in our family are not meant to damage our home, but to improve it by bringing us closer to the Lord and to each other.
By Emanuel V. John
With permission to publish by: Sam Hadley, Grace & Truth, 210 Chestnut St., Danville, IL., USA. Website: www.gtpress.org
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