Today’s message reminds us that the ground-level reason and heart-level motivation for our life is to glorify God. That should be especially true of the Christian family. So today we pray: FATHER, GLORIFY YOUR NAME IN THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY. There are two significant chapters in the New Testament on the moral values and relationships of the Christian family. Ephesians chapter five begins with the appeal to be “imitators of God” because Jesus sacrificed himself to make us dearly loved children of God. We are God’s family, first, and honor our Father by doing life his way. Then the apostle Paul makes an extended appeal for sexual purity and urges glorifying God together with worship and thanksgiving as the reason for the Christian lifestyle. The chapter concludes with the familiar comparison of marriage to the relationship of Christ and the Church, with “reverence for Christ” as the motivation for wives submitting to their husbands and husbands giving themselves up for their wives. The parent-child relationship which follows begins: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” Think about it. The basis for Christian family life is God’s love, and the reason for Christian family life is God’s glory. Similarly, Colossians chapter three begins with the reminder that our life is wrapped up in Jesus Christ and destined for glory with him, as the basis for St. Paul’s appeal to sexual purity. Again the apostle returns to our status as God’s dearly loved children, whose forgiving love is modeled after God’s forgiving love and whose relationships are given purpose in thankful worship of God. Only then does the apostle conclude the chapter with moral imperatives for marriage and parenting. Do you see the pattern? Christian family life is based on God’s love and directed toward God’s glory.
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