Is All Well? - Family Series, pt 3

10/26/08 - David Uth

How is your family? How is the home?

A 2004 report from the Whitherspoon Institute called Marriage and the Public Good concluded that our nation depends on the family being well and that can best happen with a mom and a dad who are married.

Marriage is the component that God ordained--he knew exactly what he was doing. There is no substitute for family and marriage.

2Kings 4:18-35 - 3 Questions

1. Is all well with you?
2. Is all well with your husband
3. Is all well with the child?

#1 - Is all well with you?
As you go... so goes the family... so goes the marriage. Your marriage will never be closer to God unless you are. The prophet didn't ask about the business or money he asked about the women. Spend time in the word and worship and pray.

#2 - Is all well with your husband?
The home will do no better than the marriage. Children need to see a marriage that works. They learn everything they need to know about life from their parents. It is the desire of every child in this nation to know if their mom and dad love each other.

Florida Amendment 2 - It protects the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.

Children learn certain things from mom and certain things from dad. Children need to see balance. They need to learn how to forgive. There is no such things as a perfect marriage just the grace of God that two people stay together. The greatest sin in marriage is unforgiveness. Teaching children how to forgive is the most important thing. Divorced parents need to honor the mother/father.

#3 - Is all Well with the Child?
Ask them? Have you seen what is on their wall, on their computer, Facebook, iTunes. Some parents don't know. How are our children doing?

Children age 12-18 in America every:
8 Seconds a child drops out of school
26 seconds a child runs away
47 seconds a child is abused
67 seconds a child has a baby
78 seconds a child attempts suicide
7 minutes a child is arrested on drugs charges
53 minutes a child dies of poverty
66% of children have lied to their parents in the last 20 months
66% of high school children have tried drugs
60% of church kids are sexually active

The woman in the scripture took her child as close to God as she could. She laid him on the prophets bed. You are never closer to your children as you are when you pray with them. The Bible doesn't call us to impose our faith but to impress faith on children. Lead them to faith instead of forcing it.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 - Talk about things of the Lord with your children.

The prophet got as close as he could to the child. Hard to be a good parent across a long distance. Distance matters! If you are not with your children it will be hard to be what God wants you to be with your children. You have to get in their world--get as close as you can!