Deuteronomy Dads: Developing A Godly Home

By Tom Bushnell - NATHHAN NEWS Fall 1997

    Is your heart's desire for a peaceful, Godly home? Did you know it is really not complicated to get started, neither must you be a "Biblical buzz saw" in correct doctrine?

All that is required is a repentant attitude. In fact, if any of us want to grow more like Him, we must repent of our sin daily, and keep that repentant attitude.

Tricky is the sin of self-centeredness: that putting ourselves first before God and others. Our society is built on selfishness and its applications are subtle.

God's kindness draws us to repentance. How loving and kind God is to give and suffer in order to make a way for us to be in heaven with Him. He wants all men to repent. (Acts 17:30)

Since God truly loves us, He is not afraid of hurting our feelings or making us uncomfortable. As a loving earthly father should, He reproves and disciplines us when we error. As a response to His loving call to us, we should zealously repent.(Rev. 3:19)

There is an inseparable connection between repentance and faith. Do we truly know that God wants us to have a God honoring home? Do we really want our eyes open to spiritually destructive things in our home? If we do have true faith in God and we honestly believe and understand who He is, we will want to repent. (Mark 1:15 and Hebrews 6:1) Faith and repentance are part of the foundation that Jesus would have us build the house of our lives on.

God is not calling people who fancy themselves righteous by what they do, wear or where they fellowship. But instead he is looking for sinners, who understand they are utterly wretched without Him and are willing to repent.

Pride will get in the way of true repentance every time. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

How do we know we are truly repentant?

First off, tears may or may not equal repentance. Esau had tears over the loss of the blessing that could have been his. We can sorrow over the loss or consequences of not having, yet not be truly repentant.

1. We will realize that when we sin, toward others by being selfish, we have really offended God. For example Esau in Hebrews 12:17.

2. Godly sorrow for our wrongdoing will bring about in our life repentance, earnestness to be right before God, an eagerness to do right, an indignation at what we have done, fear of doing it again, longing to be right with God and to stay that way, zeal to keep on the right path and a feeling of wanting to do justice to the hurt party and to God.

2 Corinthians 7:10-11 reads:

10. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death.11. For behold what earnestness this very thing, this Godly sorrow, has produced in you; what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

Fruit in our lives to assure us that we are on the right path toward a Godly home will be: putting God first and others before ourselves. We will be loving and protecting our wives, training our children and serving others. Our desire for a Godly home is placed there by our Heavenly Father. He alone can show us exactly where we and our families need to repent and to succeed in moving forward toward the goal of the blessing of a peaceful, Godly home.