The Christian Home..Experiencing the Wisdom of God (Ephesians 5:15-18)

For the Christ follower, God intends the home life to be a blessed and satisfying place. When we take into account the numbers on divorce, sexual promiscuity, homosexuality, and general breakdown of morality and biblical family values in our culture, Christ followers are faced with a formidable task in seeking to experience satisfying homes. The task is formidable because we live in evil times. Because we live in evil times, we need to experience the wisdom of God for our homes! Unless we recognize the specific ways in which evil is manifested in our times, we can't stand against it! There are many powerful cultural factors that affect the Christian home, and these factors produce a number of worldly ideas that we must resist if we're to experience godly homes. Let's examine some of these worldly ideas affecting family life. 1) A worldly concept about love and marriage. Through every form of media, our culture embraces and promotes the idea that romantic love and sex are the foundation for happiness in marriage. In this view, love is portrayed as some mysterious visitation that comes from out of no where and sweeps you off your feet! It happens that way in Hollywood! Based largely on sexual attraction, this love feels wonderful as long as it lasts! Then, it just goes away or is transferred to another person who sweeps you off your feet! Strictly speaking, sex has nothing to do with biblical love. Sex can occur without love; it happens all the time! Biblical love can exist without sex; the two are not dependent upon each other. Within the sacred and monogamous bounds of marriage as established and ordained by God, sex is a warm, intimate, and beautiful expression of love, but by itself is not love! This is where having the wisdom of God concerning a satisfying home is important! The love that culture embraces and offers is utterly selfish at its core. It seeks to fulfill its lust at the expense of another! This is a worldly concept about love and marriage. It must be avoided! It must be rejected! As Christ followers, this should not exist in your marriages. This is not the wisdom of God for your home! Your move. Be encouraged!