TAG   |   family

The Church in Your House

2 And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house: 3 Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Introduction In an episode of All in the Family, Archie and Edith were having a recommitment ceremony to celebrate their wedding anniversary. In the service Edith said, “I, Edith, take you Arch...

What Every Marriage Needs

16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: 17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. I...

Parents and Children

4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Introduction Quite often parents come to talk to me about their teenagers. They are usually distressed about the moral and spiritual condition of their child and they do not know where to turn. Sadly, most of these parents are several years too l...

Guidance for Life

General David M. Shoup, USMC, said, “If in this troubled world we can produce enough properly guided men, we won’t need guided missiles.” There is no greater need today than for more properly guided people. And the task of producing properly guided people belongs to the home. Our homes are not merely to be refuges from the storms and vicissitud...

Discipline Is an Act of L...

Discipline is an act of love. It gives a child the security of knowing that you care about him. It teaches him respect for authority and it develops self-control. The value of discipline is beyond dispute. But what is the proper form of discipline? Here are five do’s of discipline. 1. Be firm and consistent. Do not let discipline depend on your feelings. 2. Be...

The Danger of Wealth

One of the principal dangers we all face is placing too much value on making money and accumulating material possessions. It is such a great danger because this desire has a way of crowding out the best and finest things of life. For one thing, it can crowd out our family. I have seen more than one person neglect their family while trying to provide more and more thi...

Children and the Home

The New York City Youth Board once released a report that attracted a good deal of attention. The board had sent some highly experienced social workers and psychologists into the homes of 500 six-year-old boys. After studying the home environment, the researchers made predictions about the future of each of the boys. For the children from homes with a notable lack of...

A Word to Women

1 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: 2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. 3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love the...

Family Worship

One of the greatest blessings of life is a Christian home. It is a source of strength and help for all of life. An essential ingredient in a Christian home is a family altar. You cannot have a Christian home in the fullest sense of the word without it. What is a family altar? It is not a piece of furniture or a place. It is an event. It is a time when the family join...

Today's Devotional

The Cement of Civilization

George E. Jones, former deputy editor of U.S. News, once raised the question, “Whatever became of belief in America?” He went on to point out that belief in America is being replaced by pessimism, distrust of leaders, and laxity in standards. The old certainties are passing away and skepticism and cynicism abound everywhere. Then he called belief “the energizer of progress” and the “cement of civilization.” Jones is right. People who believe nothing do nothing. Without belief people won’t take a stand for righteousness. They just don’t care enough. When a lack of belief is widespread enough, a nation can’t even muster up enough people to defend itself against the enemy. Belief is the cement of society. It holds the home, the school, the community, and the nation as well as the individual together. Without belief, convictions, and values they all fall apart.

The falling apart of society we are experiencing is in reality a crisis in belief. Easy divorce, crime, suicide, alcoholism, youth runaways, abortion, drugs, and the like are all expressions of the emptiness of our lives. We don’t believe anything and so nothing matters.

Carl Henry said we are approaching what he calls “the absolute autonomy of man.” Man thinks he does “not need God either to know the truth or to do good ... whether he wishes to walk on the moon, cure cancer, or bring peace on the earth.” That’s a joke. We might be able to walk safely on the moon without God—but we sure can’t walk safely on our own streets. We might eventually be able to cure cancer without God, but we can’t cure crime, depression, rebellion, or alcoholism.

Friends, let’s face it—we are as helpless to deal with our real problems as our forefathers were. That’s why we must get back to the faith of our forefathers. We must get back to the Bible.

Why not get yours out and dust it off today. If you don’t have one, buy one. Begin to read it, study it, and live it. Go to church and take your family with you. Humble yourselves before God. Believe him.

That’s our only hope.

Missed yesterday's devotional?

Get it

Want to search all devotionals?

Go

Want to receive the weekday devotional in your inbox?

Register