There is perhaps no greater battlefield we will ever deal with than our families. When Satan wanted the whole human race to fall, his first order of business was to divide a husband and wife from one another and from their God (Genesis 3:1-8). If Satan divides and deceives a husband and wife, then he has a greater chance of getting their children as well.
Paul wrote the following words to the Church in Philipi in Philippians 2:3-11.
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
We often don’t think of this passage as dealing with family life but it certainly is. Having healthy functional ways of relating and submitting to one another bringing about the right results is critical. Biblical submission is never destructive or oppressive but based on the example of Jesus’ submission to the Father in the garden and through his life as a whole. This Sunday we will challenge the Church family, and our individual families, to prepare for the spiritual battles we will face, and it all begins by dedicating our families to the Lord first.
