CWW Week 16 - Day 7 - God In The Famiy

Joshua 24:15

‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’

Devotional.

Today’s is our final devotional in the Resolution series from the movie

Courageous.

We have been taken right back to our God given basics and I think we

have opened our minds to what our responsibilities are.

The Greatest Gift We Can Give Our Children Is A Happy Marriage.

I have seen personally, the degradation of our society with the shifting

priorities of parenting in the modern era. Our children rely on us to provide

them with security in a safe environment, and this requires us to allocate

our priorities based on meeting their needs and not their wants.

If, as we have discussed already, our greatest gift to our kids is a happy

marriage, then we need to refocus our primary attentions to our spouses

and not our kids. Our children must learn to face hardships and realise that

the whole world does not revolve around them.

When our kids come before the marriage then the marriage is neglected

and this brings decay and a sense of insecurity. A neglected spouse is

vulnerable to having their needs met elsewhere and before we know it we

have yet another single parent family.

When our children see us meeting each others emotional needs, they relax

into the shared love of the parents which should then flow naturally to the

children as the cherished off spring of the overarching marriage between

their loving parents.

Placing a higher priority on our children, only enables them to go into

adult life seeing themselves as entitled. They are less resilient and less

likely to grow because they cannot handle criticism. Their character

development is stunted as a result, and they go on creating a future

generation that is bloated on entitlement. Society is doomed to fail with

this as the model for parenting.

We Model Marriage To Our Children.

If we show our kids that their entitlements are more important than the

emotional needs of the marriage, then we are showing them a failed model

they are doomed to recreate.

Think about this. What kind of marriage are you modelling to your kids?

If you are not treating each other with respect and kindness, then where

will they learn this from going forward.

When my first marriage was stumbling along, my two daughters were

happiest when their mother and I were happy. In our upset periods they

both walked on egg shells and felt very insecure and with good reason.

I look back with great sadness on what I put them through in my quest to

find meaning in life. Low and behold I lived in a marriage that was almost

a carbon copy of the one my parents modelled to me.

The Resolution gives us a beautiful biblical foundation for raising a

family as God always intended. I have signed the Resolution document in

a ceremony with other men making the same pledge.

I re read the proclamation on a weekly basis and I am extra critical of my

performance as I measure my standards against it.

We can only live by this creed in the power of, and with the help of, the

Holy Spirit.

The Bible tells us that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens

me.” Philippians 4:13. We can only avail ourselves of this strength of

purpose by seeking the Holy Spirit in fervent prayer.

The journey ahead of us is fraught with perils we have not yet imagined,

but in Philippians 4:13 we can find great solace and comfort.

Joshua 24:15

‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’

Questions.

1. 2. 3. What kind of marriage are you modelling to your children?

Do you often place the needs of your children above the needs of your

marriage?

Are you now ready to take on the challenges required to turn this

around?

Prayer.

Dear Lord, Papa God.

Please give me the stamina and fortitude to take on the challenges that lay

ahead of me. Help me to see that you are with me always and your

promises are always kept. Give me the strength of faith in You to rise

above the perilous seas that await me, and to fortify me to stand as a

courageous and righteous person in compassion, respect, and love. For this

is my prayer in your precious name. Amen.

Graham Hood.