“Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.” Proverbs 15:17
The home and family are under attack such as never before. The hippie movement of the 1960’s, the feminist movement, the right to abortion, same-sex marriage, transgender rights and every other perversity that man can imagine, all have one thing in common: they attack the institution of the family as God defined it.
The home was meant to be a place of shelter and security from the storms of the world. It was designed to be a place of harmony, and to offer rest and peace in a troubled world. But the average home in North America is a place of tension, conflict, strife, brokenness, and hatred. The average home is consumed with the rat race of getting ahead in the world, of gathering possessions, and of believing the lie that says when I have all I want, I will be truly happy.
But happiness is often found in the simple things of life. It isn’t the vacations to all-inclusive resorts that bring us the most happiness. It isn’t the cruises on luxurious ocean liners that provide life’s greatest joys. But rather, it is the simple things: seeing your small child sing “Jesus Loves Me” and understand something of the amazement of that truth; seeing the wonder in a child’s eyes as they experience a butterfly landing on a spring flower near them. Solomon reminds us that it is a far, far greater blessing to be able to sit around a table with simple home-grown vegetables, but where genuine love is abundant, than to eat a seven course steak dinner in the ritziest, sterile restaurant where there is only hatred or cold indifference.
In the midst of a chaotic world, we need to be intentional in designing our homes to be places of harmony and love. We need to be intentional in leading our families to be families of love, rather than families of worldly success. Ultimately, it is the love of Jesus that needs to permeate our hearts and our homes. We need to spend time in His presence daily, so that we may more and more reflect Him in this broken world.