“For many of us, home is where we first experience what it means to be loved. It’s where we discover the security of belonging. Homes don’t just define where we live, but in many ways, they define who we are.” -Ruth Schwenk from In a Boat in the Middle of a Lake

What ideas come to mind when you ponder on the word “home”? Is it the layout of a particular abode? Is it the sights of holiday decorations? The sound of your parents voice and your siblings laughter? The smells of your favorite homemade dishes? Is it the feel of the shag carpet beneath your feet, or perhaps the warm quilt covering your body?

Whatever your mind conjures when you think of home are likely to be the things that have impacted your senses and given you a foundational reference point in this life. Though all those things are elements that make up home for you, something deeper exists that draws our heart towards home.

God is Creator of Home

The creation of home began all the way back in Genesis 2 when God instituted the first marriage between Adam and Eve. God gets to the end of creation, looks on all that He’s made and states that it is very good. He looked at the marriage and home He’d gifted to mankind, and He called it good. Really, it was perfect. Sin had yet to rear its ugly head. This man and woman had the perfect home. God was the focal point of it. Their relationship with one another grew out of their relationship with their God. This was the birth of home as God intended.

Psalm 127:1 “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it:”

God has a Purpose for Home

Home is the place where lives are shaped. It is within those walls that character is built, lessons are learned and personalities are developed. God has designed it this way. Author Ken Ham writes in his book Will They Stand: Parenting Our Kids to Face the Giants that the purpose of a Christian home is to raise godly offspring who marry godly offspring who raise godly offspring, and so on it goes. God has designed the home to give children the first glimpse of the Gospel. As they watch mommy and daddy, two imperfect human beings, love with God’s unconditional love, forgive one another and sacrifice for one another, they see elements of the Gospel that we can then use to bring them to the Scriptures and lead them to Christ.

Satan is Waging War Against Home

Adam and Eve’s home did not stay perfect for long. Soon, sin entered causing guilt, division and separation from God. I can only image how much this delighted Satan. He loves nothing more than to take the beautiful things that God has created for man and wreak havoc upon them. Satan knew how important the home was, and he immediately sought to destroy it. That war did not end with the ruins of Adam and Eve’s home. Satan is seeking today to wreck your home, marriage and children. He knows that if he can get a foothold in your home, that will be the place that he will be able to cause the most damage. There is a spirit of anti-Christ controlling this world. The prince of the air is doing his best to make sure that every aspect of this world is against Christ. A quick glance at culture, political agendas and current issues confirm that spirit of being in complete opposition to Christ. Home is the last line of defense. Civilization is built on the lives that it is comprised of. If Satan can get victory in Christian homes, all else crumbles.

Building a Home that Glorifies Christ

Christian parents MUST be intentional about building a home that glorifies Christ! How do we accomplish that task? Dads and moms must align their hearts with God’s heart. They must immerse themselves in His Word. They must seek the Lord through Scripture and prayer. God wants us to have homes that glorify Him infinitely more than we do! He wants to enable us to have strong Christian homes. Follow Him. Serve Him. Watch Him make your home a place of true beauty and joy.

“All people need a place where their roots can grow deep and they always feel like they belong and have a loving refuge. And all people need a place that gives wings to their dreams, nurturing possibilities of who they might become.” -Sally Clarkson from The Lifegiving Home

Our Final Home

I could not write about home without touching on our eternal home. Often this world leaves us feeling restless and out of place. There is a reason for that. This world is not our home! As the song says, “we’re just a passin’ through!” While it is important to work hard to have a Christlike home, it is temporary. We are only on this earth for a little while, and then we are onto our heavenly home with Christ. As much as I love the home that God has blessed Simeon and I with, I can only imagine the one we will one day have with our Saviour! If you do not know for sure that heaven will be your home one day, please reach out to me. I would love nothing more than to share how you can know for sure that your eternal abode will be with our Creator!

Subscribe to the No Higher Calling podcast to hear Simeon and Brettnay share more on this topic in episodes 15, 16, and 17.