Family Values
Galatians 6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you
who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also
may be tempted. 2 Carry each other's
burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is
nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one
should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing
himself to somebody else, 5 for each one should carry his own load. 6 Anyone who receives instruction in the word
must share all good things with his instructor.
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he
sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful
nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the
Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will
reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to
those who belong to the family of believers
I’ve recently studied the tribes of Abraham which took me
back further to Noah’s children. In Judges 1, I read about the battles that
took place between Judah and Canaan. This brought up some issues to mind, why
are these people fighting when they are blood relatives. Judah had children by
a Canaanite woman and prior to that Noah’s son Ham is the father of the
Canaanite clan. So I went all the way to the beginning and read about Cain and
Abel, in Genesis 4:1 Adam lay with his wife
Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man." 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3
In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an
offering to the LORD. 4 But Abel brought fat
portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.
The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5
but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very
angry, and his face was downcast. 6 Then the LORD said to Cain,
"Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If
you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is
right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you,
but you must master it." 8 Now Cain said to his
brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while
they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother
Abel?" "I don't know," he replied.
"Am I my brother's keeper?" 10 The LORD said, "What have
you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.
With every action there is a reaction, with every cause
there is an affect. In all of the Old Testament reading we find disagreements
that lead to battles. We find misunderstandings that lead to war, why? Why do
we feel that war is the answer to a disagreement? Most people feel that war is
what God issued upon mankind when instruction was given the ancestors of that
time. I personally do not believe God gave the okay for war because of the
example God gave to us in Genesis and the Four Gospels. When Adam sinned, God
did not destroy him and start all over. God gave him punishment with
instruction on how to live a more “righteous lifestyle”. When opposition came
up against Jesus Christ, he met it head on with knowledge and wisdom, and
produced loving words to extinguish the flame of opposition. So why do we feel
today that war is the answer to opposition.
When we conversate with someone and an issue comes up that
causes disagreement, the average person becomes angry within, this is the
action. Today the reaction is to verbally discredit the other person’s view or
views. If it escalates it causes the two to fight; which then in turn becomes
the effective nature of someone winning the battle by some means. But is this
the right way to do things? If I have a disagreement with someone else and it
escalates, and I have a gun, should I just pop him to win the argument? In
fashions, once I extinguish his mouth, I have no one to argue the issue with,
and at that moment I have won the argument. But you see it is not an argument
that I have won because we all have differences of views and opinions. If I
maintain this state of mind then I may extinguish a third of the population and
eventually someone will out smart me and pull the trigger on me and pop me
before I can pop them.
If we study properly, we will find that In God we are to
utilize our thought process to analyze situations. Disagreements will always
happen, it the action that takes precedence; in better words, “emotions”. For
men, we must learn how to control our emotional being. Once we become
successful at this “self-control” our actions will yield more positive
reactions, or “outcomes”.
Case in point, if I disagree with someone about an issue and
argue the facts with an open mind, an actual discussion takes place. Keeping my
emotions out of the argument and debating facts can only lead to one outcome;
an agreement. Either we agree to the outcome or agree to disagree. These are
the things a man must learn to do and if we are successful at this in will
manifest itself within our family. Our son’s will learn techniques that will
allow them the ability to maintain self-control. Our wives will see that an
argument is not necessary and we collectively find solutions to problems. The
husband and wife demonstrate techniques in the eyesight’s of the children and
they therefore obtain strategies to settle disagreements amongst themselves. We
begin to have positive outcomes in the action/reaction scenario. The cause and
effect become ways to inspire the inner being. I thoughts become more on the
area of “enlightening” instead of “degrading”. Once we develop family values
within our own household, the world can actually become a better place to live;
but it has to start in my home, your home, his home, her home, their home. This
has to be a worldwide reaction in order for it to effect the world as a whole.
