Christian Homes: "Godly Wisdom"

Spirit & Truth # 272

“Christian Homes:  Godly Wisdom”

By Greg Smith

            In these weeks between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, I want to spend some time with you talking about Christian homes.  Psalm 68:6 (NIV) says, “God sets the lonely in families.”  From the day that God created Eve for Adam, God was in the business of making marriages.  The Lord gave them beautiful children, and the human population has been growing ever since.  Sometimes, families have made godly choices, and other times they have made worldly decisions.  Nevertheless, God still draws us to Himself.

            Today, families are under attack.  Satan, the “Father of Lies (John 8:44)” has deluded half our nation into believing that the government has the right to change the definition of marriage from God’s original intent.  In reality, government can no more redefine the meaning of marriage than it can redefine the meaning of words like “table” or “itchy” or “murder.”  (Wait…sometimes government tries to redefine “murder” as well.)  The problem is that government forgets that it didn’t invent marriage.  From the beginning, marriage was never a human institution.  It was created by God, to be for one man and one woman, for life.   A government that thinks it can redefine marriage as something that it’s not is a government that believes itself to be God, instituting things like right and wrong at the whim of the people.  Such a government has lost its moral compass, along with the people who believe that morality is a relative thing to be decided by a vote.

            Isaiah 5:20-21 says, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.”  Isaiah laments the spiritual plight of those who call sin acceptable.  He grieves for those who use words like “intolerant, bigoted, or stupid” to describe people who uphold the truth of God’s word and the morality that God calls His people to endorse.

            The author of Ephesians 5:15-18 (NIV) says, “Be very careful, then, how you live —not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.  Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”

            These words are just as true today as they were nearly two thousand years ago.  Rather than following the opinion of godless society in evil days, God’s word calls us to godly wisdom.  God calls people foolish who don’t seek to understand what His will is, but instead allow good and evil to be defined by their own flawed opinions.  Sin will always be popular, but God calls His people to holiness.  Instead of being controlled by vice, Christians should be filled with the Spirit.  Only when we allow the Spirit of holiness to influence our decisions, rather than following the politically correct opinions of ear-tickling, vote-seeking politicians, can we know true wisdom in these evil days.

            I invite you to journey with me for the next six weeks as together we find out what the book of Ephesians says about Christian homes.  Maybe you’ll be inspired.  Perhaps you’ll get angry.  Hopefully, you’ll be challenged by God’s word, and decide to commit your family to living a godly life.