Building a Godly Home in 2014!

This past week on Sunday Morning, I preached from Psalm 101, and we focused on how we can build Godly homes. Here is an outline for building a Godly home in 2014 based off of Psalm 101.

1. Resolve yourself to make a Godly home in 2014!

Really the rest of these applications will not work without this one  We must be firmly determined that this is a goal for our households, we must be RESOLVED! We must have a desire in our hearts to see God glorified at home and let us be shaped by the Gospel. We must ask ourselves what is non-negotiable to spiritual growth for me and my house?

May I suggest a few:
-Repentance and belief in Jesus Christ as our only hope of salvation (Acts 4:12)
-Create a family worship time in your home daily (Deuteronomy 6) The family could go over a passage or bible story, have prayer, and have a song of praise.  Simple is just fine and encouraged.
-Attend one local church regularly & become a member (Hebrews 10:25)
-Joining a Sunday School Class (Ephesians 4:11-16)
-Join a small group (opportunities will be available later in 2014) (Hebrews 3:12-14)
-Get involved in a discipleship/accountability relationship with someone more mature than you (Ephesians 4:11-16)

2.  Be Tough and Tender
Psalms 101:1 says "I will sing of faithful love and justice."

The Word of God is filled with great tensions and this is one of them, that we be both loving and seek justice at the same time.  The cross of Christ is the place where faithful love and justice kiss.  In this passage, the head of household is called to be both tough enough to deal with the sin in his or her household, and tender enough to faithfully love their spouse and children.

Darren Patrick, a pastor at the Journey Church in St. Louis, prays this prayer with his son every night, "God make me a man with thick skin and a soft heart.  Make me a man who is tough and tender.  Make me tough so I can handle life.  Make me tender so I can love people.  God, make me a man."

3. Be careful how you build, intentional and practical steps are required.

Psalms 101:2 says, "I will be pay attention to how I build."

If the emphasis on this verse was placed on "blameless" or "perfection," the job will seem too difficult. Failure would be immediate, because no home is a perfect place. But if the emphasis of your intentions is on the first part of this "I will be careful", it becomes very possible to achieve the goal of this thought.

Let's get really practical for a second:
-Have a Bible in several key spots around your house
-Join me as we read though the Bible in a year or create a bible reading plan over the course of a year or two.
-Memorize Scripture. (You can't apply it if you don't know it!)
-Fill your home with God glorifying art.
-Talk about your faith with your family and friends.
-Be consistent.
-Consider writing a family mission and vision statement.

3. Be careful the music you listen to in your home.

In verse 1, the author says, "I will sing praise!" This instruction comes from the Bible's hymn book.  It breaks my heart as a pastor to see people stand in place and look as if their dog died during worship though music. There is a clear connection between the music we listen to and the actions we take.

Something to think about, while the notes an instrument produces should be considered morally neutral (that is to say instrumental music is neither good nor evil). So any given genre of music is not necessary in and of itself good or evil, because it is the words of a song that make it good or evil.

We all can recall words from commercial jingles that we heard a long time ago. Music affects us for the good or bad, marketing companies have known this for years. It is foolish and arrogant on our part to think we can listen to a song that is wicked and evil and think it will have no effect on our hearts.

4. Go to War with Evil!

In verse 3 says, "I will not set anything worthless before my eyes..."

Be careful what you let your eyes see.  The enemy is crafty, and one of his best resources  to both keep Godly thoughts out and keep the flesh feed.  We are a multi-media culture, and we have got to be careful what we allow ourselves and our children to see. We need to put barriers in place to prevent "worthless things" from being seen in our household. Things like parental locks on the tv programs, possible removing cable tv (most commercials are so sexually charged they are worthless to the eye), and filters on our computers. I recommend the following as a help:

Covenant Eyes
http://x3watch.com/

5. Surround your family with God-honoring friends.

In verse 6, it says "my eyes will be on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he whose walk is blameless will minister to me."

Here we have God-given and delightful instructions to surround your family with friends who will bring their laughter, gifts, food, and priceless friendship into your home. The Godly of the local church may even become closer to you than your unbelieving family. What a joy and blessing!

Consider the opposite, if we allow the ungodly into our homes. Our children may be attracted to evil the way that termites have a taste for untreated wood. Our children are always watching the influences around them.

So I hope this has helped you to think about how you can be intentional about building a Godly home. We are all building, the question is what are we building? See to it that you build carefully brothers and sisters.