Your Daily Devotional for July 29, 2007

 

July 29,  2007

 

 

The Enemy of Indifference

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light."

 

Ephesians 5:6-8

 

 

John Underwood, a former senior sports writer and editor, wrote, "Civilizations do not give out; they give in. They come apart, not in a flash, but by the inch. In a society where anything goes, everything eventually will."

 

There is no question that the last twenty years have brought unprecedented attacks on the home and Christian values in our country. It seems as though our culture has been waging a civil war against the home. The bombardment of lesser values from the media combined with schedules filled with stress have left many husbands and wives indifferent, dazed, and numb toward biblical values and responsibilities.

 

In our society, work has taken precedence over the home. We work so hard each day that we are left spent and lifeless when we come home. But it is often those times when our children need us the most. It is those times when we need to ask God for more energy to teach our children God's Word. The world wants us to be indifferent, but God calls us to be interested in our children's lives. Over the next few days, we will see three areas in which God wants us to guard against indifference. Today we will see that God wants us to guard against indifference toward the biblical roles in the family.

 

First, the husbands must provide leadership in the home. Ephesians 5:23 says, "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body." God has set up the man as the head of the house, and He desires that the husband lead the family spiritually. He is not to be a dictator, but a guide.

 

God has placed us husbands in the home as authority figures, but that does not mean we are always right. Sometimes we can think that because God has put us in a role of leadership any decision we make is right, but we are only humans! God still desires for us to seek Him each day for help. We can only lead our families correctly as we seek guidance from God.

 

Wives, in turn, are required to submit to their husbands. This is not a very popular idea in our culture today, and it can be a very touchy subject for some people, yet God shows us in His Word that He desires for wives to place themselves under their husband's authority. Ephesians 5:22 says, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." As wives, you are to submit to your husband as you submit to the Lord. A godly wife seeks to complete her husband by submitting to him rather than competing with him.

 

Our world desperately needs husbands who will provide loving leadership and wives who will fulfill the biblical role of completers and supporters of their husbands. When wives submit to their husbands and husbands submit to God, we will be able to guard against indifference in the home.

 

Husbands, are you fulfilling your biblical role of leadership in your home? Are you seeking help from God each day to guide your family spiritually? Wives, are you submitting to your husband and seeking to complete Him? When we recognize our biblical roles in the family and we seek help from God each day, we will be able to be the godly families Christ desires us to be. Spend time with God today and seek His help to guard against indifference in your home.

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Psalm 49-50 • Romans 1

 

 

 

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