We’ve all heard the phrase, “keep it in the family.” Many times, this phrase is referring to wealth, embarrassing news, or even property. Families for generations have gone to great lengths to “keep it in the family.” There isn’t anything wrong with keeping houses, heirlooms, and wealth in the family, but what if there’s something greater to pass down to our children and their children’s children? What if there is someone who can heal us from family embarrassment? What could be better than passing down wealth one might ask? How about the one who gives us the ability to make wealth according to Deuteronomy 8:18. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10). When we keep Christ in the family, not only is He able to bless us with many things, He helps us in times of trouble, and even when those things, we so desperately fight to again perish, He remains.

 

Families, today, are faced with so many attacks and distractions. It’s not uncommon for the enemy to attack the children with rebellion, entice a husband or wife with adultery, or influence a parent to become a workaholic. It doesn’t take long for a family to be torn at the threads when both parents are working endlessly to provide the “good life” for their children. Providing for the family isn’t the issue, but when balance is lacking, the enemy can weasel his way in undetected. 1 Peter 5:8 warns us about this clever adversary. It says, “Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” Peter informs us that we have an enemy and we need to be alert, and sober-minded to resist his wiles. The Greek word for sober in verse 8 is nepho, which means, to have clear judgment. It’s hard to have clear judgment and be alert when we are working 50 hours a week. The enemy hates the institution of family and will stop at nothing to destroy it. So we must do our part to keep our families from the grips of the devil. 

 

The way we can keep our families blessed, healthy, and prosperous, isn’t by working hard at our places of employment, isn’t by keeping things in the family, but by keeping Christ in the family. When Christ is the center, He is the glue that holds us together in times of trials. Christ is our compass when needing direction for families. He is our source that enables us to live the blessed lives we desire through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God wants us blessed. He wants us to have the best that life has to offer, but He doesn’t want us to rely on our own strength, people, or things, to attain it. He wants us to have a loving relationship with Him and trust Him to provide for us. The answer to everything we have or will encounter, as a family, is in the Bible. He gives us the blueprint for a successful, blessed, and prosperous family in his word. When we keep Christ as the center of our families, no matter what happens in our lives, he holds us together. 

 

We invite you to read the following scriptures to Bible references relating to the family: 

• Genesis 1:27, 28; 2:23,24

• Proverbs 22:6

• Psalm 127:3

• 1 Corinthians 1:7

• Ephesian 5 and 6

• Colossians 3:18-25

• 1 Peter 3:17