DIGGING DEEP NO. 1078 April 8, 2025 A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF COLOSSIANS (PART 9) FAMILY AFFAIR Col.3: 18 – 25.

Faith in Jesus Christ not only changes individuals, it also changes home. The first institution God founded on earth was the home Gen.2: 18- 25; Matt.19: 1- 6. As goes the home, so goes society and the nation. The strength of a nation is derived from the integrity of its homes. One of the greatest things we can do as individuals is help to build godly Christian homes.

Husbands and wives: Love and submission – Col.3: 18- 19. The fact that the woman is to submit to her husband does not suggest that the man is better than the woman. It only means that the man has the responsibility of headship and leadership in the home. If there is no chain of command in society, we would have chaos. Headship is not dictatorship or lordship. It is loving leadership. Both the husband and the wife must be submitted to the Lord and to each other Ephe.5: 21. It a mutual respect under the lordship of Jesus Christ. When a Christian woman is submitted to the Lord and to her own husband, she experiences a release and fulfillment that she can have in no other way. This mutual love and submission is the secret of growth in the home that enables both the husband and the wife to become all that God wants them to be. Joyful submission is evidence that the wife belongs to Jesus Christ. 

However, the husband has the responsibility of loving his wife; and it is supposed to be agape love; the sacrificing, serving love that Christ shares with His church. A marriage may begin with normal, human, romantic love, but it must grow deeper into the spiritual agape love that comes only from God. Ephe.5: 18 makes it clear that the husband must love his wife even as Christ loved the church. Jesus Christ gave His all for the church! He willingly died for us! The measure of a man’s love for his wife is not seen only in gifts or words, but in acts of sacrifice and concern for her happiness and welfare. Paul added a special word of warning for the husbands “And do not be bitter towards them” Col.3: 19. Husbands must be careful not to harbor ill will toward their wives because of something they did or did not do. A root of bitterness in a home can poison the marriage relationship and give Satan a foothold Ephe.4: 31; Heb.12: 15. The Christian husband and wife must be open and honest with each other and not hide their feelings or lie to one another. “Speaking the truth in love” is a good way to solve family differences Ephe.4: 15. “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath” is a wise policy to follow if you want to have a happy home Ephe.4: 26. A husband who truly loves his wife will not behave harshly or try to throw his weight around in the home 1 Cor.13: 4- 5. A wife really has little difficulty submitting to a husband who loves her. The husband’s love for his wife is seen in his sacrifice for her, and the wife’s love for her husband is seen in her submission to him. Where there is sacrifice and submission in an atmosphere of love, you will find a happy home.

Where do we get the power to love and to submit? From the Lord Jesus Christ. If we live to please Christ first, others second, and ourselves last, we will build strong marriages and spiritual homes.

Parents and children: Encouragement and obedience – Col.3: 20- 21. The normal result of marriage is the bearing of children, and fortunate are those children who are born into Christian homes where there is love and submission. A great deal is being said about the rights of children, and they do have rights. One of them is the right to be born. Children have rights, but they also have responsibilities, and their foremost responsibility is to obey. They are to obey in all things and not simply in those things that please them. Will their parents ever ask them to do something that is wrong? Not if the parents are submitted to the Lord and to one another, and not if they love each other and their children. A child who does not learn to obey his parents is not likely to grow up obeying any authority. He will defy his teachers, the police, his employers, and anyone else who tries to exercise authority over him. The breakdown in authority in our society reflects the breakdown of authority in the home. Parents who cannot discipline themselves cannot exercise authority over others. It is only as parents submit to each other and to the Lord that they can exercise properly balanced spiritual and physical authority over their children. The family that lives in an atmosphere of love and truth, that reads the Word of God, and that prays together will have an easier time discovering God’s will and pleasing the Lord. Parents must make it as easy as possible for children to obey. “Provoke not your children” is a commandment to parents, and how often it is disobeyed. Life is not easy for children, especially Christian children. Their problems might seem small to us, but they are quite large to them! Christian parents must listen carefully, share the feelings and frustrations of their children, pray with them, and seek to encourage them. Home ought to be the happiest and best place in all the world. Discouraged children are fair prey for Satan and the world.

It is the duty of parents to help their children develop their personalities, their gifts, and their skills. If a home is truly Christian, the child finds a loving heart, a watching eye, a listening ear, and a helping hand.

In Conclusion – In this kind of a home, it is natural for the child to trust Jesus Christ and want to live for Him.