[stextbox id=”custom”]This is a guest post by Jeremy Griswold. Jeremy is a student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary preparing for pastoral ministry. You can follow him on Twitter and visit his blog. If you are interested in writing a guest post for this blog, please review the guest posting guidelines.[/stextbox]
Being a newly married man and a seminary student, I have found myself thinking deeply upon having a Christ-centered family. As a Christian, husband and student, my goal in life should be to honor Christ in ever outlet of my life.
In my judgment, the three activities discussed in this article are vital for a Christ-centered family. If we truly think about it, there is a long list that one could follow, but for now I will focus on three. As you read prayerfully consider these activities; if you are currently doing these, praise God. However, if you find yourself struggling in these areas, seek God through prayer for repentance and guidance, knowing that He is faithful to us even when we are not faithful to Him.
1. Prayer and Fasting. This first activity seems like a no-brainer, but so many times Christians have a dull, weak and meaningless prayer life. Prayer is the way we communicate with God, where we come before the throne of God to give praise, confess sins, ask for wisdom, thank the Lord for his blessings and seek him for guidance. Furthermore, Donald Whitney says that fasting “is a Christian’s voluntary abstinence from food for spiritual purposes.” Fasting is a practice that is not discussed in American Christianity, yet it is vital for Christian families. Remember, whether your fast is to strengthen your prayer life, repent of sin, pray for a wayward son or daughter, fasting should always be done with a purpose. Fathers, consider fasting for a day, using that time to pray for your individual family members who are in need of the grace of God—especially for your wife. Mothers, consider fasting for a day to remember your son who just went off to college and will face great temptation, or your daughter who is struggling with her faith.
2. Devotion. The second activity of a Christ-centered family is devotion. I am not talking about the 10-40 minutes of “devotions” one has as they read scripture and pray in the morning or evening, even though this is a good practice. Scripture calls us to more than 10-40 minutes of our daily time; it calls us to live every minute of our day devoted to God. As a husband, you should be devoted to God while reading scripture, while being on a date with your wife and while fishing with your son and daughter. As a wife you are to be devoted to God while singing in the church’s choir, while cuddling with your husband, and while taking your children to their soccer game. As parents you are to be filtering everything through the lens of Christ. One could say that devotion to God is living with Christ-centered glasses on. Furthermore parents, when your children see you living to honor Christ, it encourages them to follow Christ as well.
3. Family Worship. This last activity flows directly from the first two activities. If one is devoted to the Lord, they will be seeking the Lord through prayer and fasting. Parents will also want to see their children trained up in the Lord. In the Old Testament, the nation Israel was commanded to tell their children of the wonderful works of God: “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Duet. 6:7-9). In a similar way, Christians today should tell their Children of the work Christ has done on the Cross, and the way He works in our lives today. The Apostle Paul tells us that Christ followers should raise their children “in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Parents should consider setting aside a short time in the day to read scripture, pray and sing together. For busy families, this could be done in ten minutes while eating breakfast, or ten minutes before bedtime. Family worship will be a great time to come together as a family, to worship the Lord together and to teach your children about the grace that you have been shown in Christ.
(For more information on family worship click here to “Simplify Family Worship.”)
Great article Jeremy. Lord willing it will help many (like myself) to become more diligent in family worship time!