Fighting For Your Family (Part 3)

“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:6-9

The Bible gives us powerful examples of families- some we want to follow and others we’re wise to avoid. Take Ahab and Jezebel, for instance. Their lives were marked by recklessness and a complete disregard for God. Because of their choices, their family met a tragic and violent end. All seventy of their children and grandchildren were beheaded, and their entire dynasty was wiped out.

But then there’s another story. A man named Obed-Edom welcomed the Ark of the Covenant into his home for three months (2 Samuel 6:11). That decision changed everything. He had seventy children and grandchildren, and every one of them was so influenced by the presence of God in their home that they went on to serve in the temple. The blessing didn’t stop with him. It flowed from one generation to the next.

As a parent, keeping God at the center of your home isn’t just important, it’s essential. 

You’re the gatekeeper of what comes into your house.

Your children are watching you. Every time you bring them to church, it makes an impact. Every time you open your Bible or kneel to pray, you are clearing a path for them to follow.

Philemon 1:2 says, “To the church that is in your house.” Do you have church in your house? Is God honored there? Is He talked about often? How much worship and prayer happens in your home? Someone once said, "Until they're about fifteen, your children do what you tell them. After fifteen, they do what you’ve shown them."

There’s an old children’s song that says, “Be careful, little feet, where you go. Be careful, little eyes, what you see.” But maybe that should be an adult song, too. Because wherever our big feet go, little feet are sure to follow. So, where are your footsteps leading your children and your children’s children? What kind of legacy are you leaving behind?

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