Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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FAMILY MATTERS

Proverbs 1: 1-9
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake your mothers teaching'. (Proverbs 1:7-8)
The book of proverbs was written by the king Solomon. Proverbs are simple ,moral statements and teach fundamental realities about life.
It emphasizes moral and ethical principles, which lead to a right relationship with God. Solomon sought and received wisdom and knowledge from God. For him, fear of God is the foundation for all spiritual knowledge and wisdom to build the Christian family.

Family - a Divine institution: Marriage is ordained by God in the Garden of Eden. God gave us marriage as a gift. Likewise, God also gave us family as a gift. Family is not a human institution, but a divine institution called in unity to glorify God. Home is the basic unit of the society. Christian home is a blue print of the Kingdom of God. It is a loving home where Christ is the head, and it consists of a God-fearing father ,mother, and the children love God, and lives for each other. It radiates the love of God, welcomes strangers and dispenses hospitality without measures. Christian Home is a foretaste of the Heavenly Home. Local parish is a family of families. Therefore, our parish is a visible expression of the Kingdom of God. A church cannot flourish without Christian home. Broken families are increasing day by day. Divorce rate in USA is fifty percent. Therefore we must focus our attention on family prayer to build healthy families.

Role of Christian parents: Parents must be the role model to the children in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. How can we become better parents? We can be a better parent to our children by committing our life to God on our knees. St. Paul says in Ephesians 6:4 - “Fathers.do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and the instruction of the Lord; As parents our duty is to transmit the faith and the good practices to the next generation. Children need our love, care, security and our time. "Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. 'Proverbs22:6 Parents have equal and joint responsibility to bring up the children for the glory of God. Children are the hope of our future and wealth of the nation. Our children are the heritage and blessings from God. God is expecting that every family must be Christ centered.

Prayer: O Lord, grant us the heavenly wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit to sanctify our families for the glory of God. Amen.

Rev. M. P. Yohannan, vicar St.Lukes Florida and Hermon Atlanta









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