For there to be a godly relationship in the home, the home must be operating under the precepts of God, with God as the beginning, centre and end of everything that concerns the home, where the couple and children embody the character of God. In this kind of home, you would see certain fruits of the Spirit that showcase that it is indeed a godly home as the home will be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, selfcontrol, and lovely virtues like unity, trust, respect, integrity, responsibility, and more.
The scriptures shows us the fundamental instruction that should lead a home. Firstly, a godly marriage should rightly be between two true believers, male and female, who have a heart for God and seek to please Him in all things. They subject their will under the will of God and let His will guide all that they do. This is evident even before marriage as you will see that they will honour God in everything including how they relate with one another. They will not just date anyone carelessly but choose to wait on God’s leading and direction on who they should marry, and when He has directed them to their future spouse, they will continue to honour God with their bodies by not engaging in sex or any form of sexual pleasures before marriage, and ensure they remain faithful to their partner. Unfortunately, we see that some people have already been unequally yoked in marriage to an unbeliever, however, the scripture says that those in such marriages should not end the marriage but strive to keep the marriage and live Christlike so that perhaps by their godly character they might win their spouse to Christ. However should they decide to divorce, they can do so as it is not a sin, and they would no longer be bound to their partner. How amazing it is to know God before marriage and let Him lead, as it saves us from all sorts of heartaches.
Secondly, the Bible gave clear instructions to the husband and wife, and if only every godly married couple can abide by these simple instructions, we will see many of our Christian marriages basking in the glory of God and be a light to the world and be worth emulating. These simple instructions can be found in Ephesians 5:21-33, where husbands were instructed to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. What this means is not necessarily to die, but to be able to give up your self will, preferences, comfort, and convenience for the sake of your wife. It is about being selfless, a sacrificial kind of love. Loving someone isn’t always going to be convenient. A single man could do whatever he wants, whenever he wanted. He could go out and come in as he wanted, but now he must consider his spouse and what she likes, this also applies to the wife as well. The wife is called to submit to her husband in love. This entails putting his interests, preferences, comfort and conveniences into consideration when doing anything, and being ready to submit to his leadership. Saying yes to that man to be his wife means saying yes to submit to his leadership, which means before saying yes, access him to know that he is indeed God’s will for you and that he has the good godly qualities in which you can willingly submit to. Ensure that he has indeed submitted his life, and his will to God. This is why choosing a spouse should not be taken for granted or taken lightly. If you choose to obey these simple biblical instructions in your home, it will indeed flourish.
Thirdly, being a Christian does not automatically result in having a godly relationship in your home. It takes intentionality of the husband and wife to choose to live in a manner that pleases God. This is where the fruits of the Spirit come in really handy. Each partner is to strive consciously to develop a godly character full of the fruits of God’s spirit, and in so doing, the relationship between themselves and their children will flourish. The first fruit is love. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a shows us that for couples to truly operate in love, they must be patient and kind with one another, not envious of each other or boastful of their respective achievements over the other, not arrogant or rude in how they relate with each other, never insist on their own way, nor being irritable or resentful of each other, neither rejoicing in wrong doing, rather they are to rejoice with truth, and learn to bear, believe, hope and endure all things. I must mention that in saying this, the message is in the context that both are behaving Christlike, then they can indeed bear and endure all things they face together, however this does not in anyway encourage a spouse to stay in an abusive marriage where a partner isn’t behaving in a godly manner. If you choose to abide by the godly kind of love in your marriage, you would be patient, kind, gentle, and good to your spouse, having self control to control your temperaments and ensure you are faithful, knowing that God forbids infidelity. By so doing your partner will trust and respect you, and will work together with you in unity for the good of the home and in raising godly children.
Fourthly, ensure you raise godly children who obey God. It is not enough to just take them to church or have devotions in the home, because often times the discussions during devotions are not in depth enough as the family is either rushing off to work in the morning, or are too tired after work and eager to sleep, and these are usually the times set aside for devotions so its typically a short time which isn’t sufficient. Do not answer any question with “…because the Bible says so” rather an effective way would be to ensure you frequently have discussions with them about Gods precepts, and allow them air their views, and then gently, critically, and biblically explain the reason for your faith and godly values so that they can truly understand and also believe in those values as well, because when they understand and believe in these godly values, they will not loose them to peer pressure or any deception.
Finally, the Lord established the home from the beginning, when He made Adam and Eve and blessed and commanded them and said “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” God has established the home for fruitfulness and this is why the devil pushes to depopulate the world convincing humans with various perverse strategies to stop being fruitful, painting abortion as freedom and women’s rights, and convincing men and women that choosing not to procreate is helpful to the earth. God also created us to dominate and subdue the sea, sky, and the ground and every living creature in those places. We are not to live in fear of anything in the world not even the principalities and powers and rulers of wickedness in high places. We are made for dominance and the home is where we breed, learn, grow and from there we move into the world to dominate it. Do not let the enemy make you live in fear. The enemy attacks the home because it wants to corrupt the society and the home is the foundation of society.
Dear Christians, we must go back to the way God has intended things to be and give up the structure of the enemy. Let’s dig deep into the scriptures to know God’s perfect will for every aspect of life so we can rule as He has intended. This is what Universal Scroll is for, to unveil and explain the truths of the Bible to all mankind, as the Bible is the manual for God’s children to thrive. We are led by this simple principle “If it is in the Bible, we want it, but if it is not in the Bible, we don’t want it”. Let the truth of the Word of God be your only source as it is for us.