Put your house in order (3)

Love, true love is very essential for us to have a stable home. Anything built on love will always endure and succeed. Forgiveness, kindness, patience, support, sincerity, commitment and fidelity will spring from it. And without all this the family cannot be in order. The man must love his wife and his children with all his heart and with all his strength. Yes, your resources are basically for your family. They must be in front line charge. He supports his family first and then extends to others. If you always spend your money outside or on yourself, leaving your family aside, God will curse you. Sure! In fact, the word of God says that you should love and protect your family as Christ loves and protects the church. Now, Christ does not love the church because it is perfect or very good, No! It’s just because it’s his body. Nobody hates his body. Nobody wants to hurt his body. No matter how bad, old, or ugly your body is, you will still nurture, nurture, cherish, and protect it. I said this because I could hear you asking what if they are not worthy of love. Yes, some people can be very difficult, ungrateful, complex and unpleasant, but you must do it because it is a commandment. Men are commanded to love their wives, their children, and also everyone who lives and stays around them. Yes, they (house helpers, drivers, workers, assistants, assistants, relatives) are all part of your household. I strive to show the same level of love to those who live with me. Thought from other parents, but I see them as my children and partners. Everyone should be treated well with love, respect, and kindness.

Some want and give the best to their own children and mistreat others. This is very ungodly and wicked and can bring the wrath of God into your home. The truth is that those around you are actually ‘angels’ sent to help you and also to test your fidelity and love. And how you treat them can determine the level of your blessings or curses you receive. Be careful! What you will do for your children you will also do for others. What you can’t do to your children, don’t do to them. That is the will of God and it is what I believe and practice. Next, wives must respect and love their husbands. You should see your husband as your brother, your partner, your friend, your father and your lord. Yes, your lord! You heard me right. Godly women in the Bible submitted, loved, and called their husbands their lord. Sarah called out to Abraham, “My lord.” He is not your enemy. He is not your competitor. He is not that man or your boy. He is your Lord, your beauty, your glory and your crown. That is the word of God. If you don’t see it and treat it as such, your home/family may never be in order physically and spiritually. Listen, this is all why we have problems in the family today. Aren’t you seeing them: broken homes, lack of commitment, infidelity, fights, insincerity, dishonesty, financial sterility, etc.? You see marriages break up in a few weeks, a few months. In fact, today it is ideal to jump from one relationship to another with flimsy excuses. This generation doesn’t really understand the virtues of perseverance, patience, submission, hard work, and true love that once made marriages and homes strong, beautiful, and lasting. Men should love and appreciate their wives. Wives are to love and respect their husbands and both are to love, nurture, and spiritually and emotionally support their children and others sent to live with and minister to them. This is what will put our homes in order.

So, we must not only love our children, but we must show that we have the same love for all of them. There are parents who do not have a personal, good and fluid relationship with their children. They are the terror at home. When they are close, everyone backs away in fear. Unrelated, inaccessible. This is bad. Your wife and children should be your best friends, your confidants and your partners. Although they are still very young, I interact with my children as friends and partners. I eat and play with them. I don’t remember eating dinner alone when they’re around. I’m not even going to enjoy the food. I discuss almost everything about family with my wife and kids, unless it’s about extremely exclusive topics. Why hide things from them? If it turns good or bad, it will still affect them. I am always there to explain everything from scripture to schoolwork, current affairs, family issues, extended family, and even village issues, etc. I see them as my friends. (But that doesn’t take away from discipline when needed.) They must learn from you first. You must make them trust you. They should not be afraid to approach you, play games and discuss their strengths, fears, weaknesses, perspectives and mistakes with you. You must receive love in order to give it. If you block them from all of these, then the other devious and outside interests will fill the void and hijack them. Love your spouse, love your children because they are your life, your joy, your name and your future. If you do not show them love, they will grow enemies, difficult and unpleasant people.

Now, the other thing is that it must be seen that you love your children equally. This is very important because it is what has destroyed many homes and family relationships today. Many siblings have become each other’s worst enemies just because their parents foolishly showed favoritism. Even when you feel tempted to love or favor one of them for whatever reason, you should resist or at least repress the feeling. Even when you prefer one over the others, try your best to balance it out by encouraging and supporting others to rise to the occasion. There is always a reason to love each child. Find them. No child enjoys being neglected or not loved by her parents for any reason. He can psychologically destroy and will hate you and your favored brothers or sisters forever. Look at the struggles this particular issue brought to the families of Isaac and Jacob. In each case, it almost resulted in total destruction and murder. Isaac loved Esau but his wife Rebekah preferred Jacob. When the birthright was fraudulently taken from Esau, he would have destroyed Jacob, if he had not fled. And it took divine intervention and prayer to finally bring those brothers together after the events. Now, unfortunately, Jacob later fell into the same trap. He loved Joseph more than his brothers and he foolishly showed it. And he saw how the boy was hated and narrowly, divinely, miraculously escaped being killed by his disaffected brothers. Even when you love someone show it wisely because he can put any of you in danger. Do not blur it recklessly, unevenly before others. Some have been injured or poisoned to death because of this. Jacob unwisely endangered Joseph by making him a coat of many colors and openly showing preference for him. Look at this, ‘Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because Joseph was born to him in his old age. Then one day, Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph: a beautiful coat. But his brothers hated Joseph because his father loved him more than the others. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.” Genesis 37:3-4

The young man was also naive to complicate matters with his practice of reporting his brothers to their father and also foolishly announcing his dreams of divine destiny to his already envious brothers. OMG! A big mistake. It was bad enough that his father was favoring him, but worse still that he was blurting out dreams and visions of him before them. And when they had the opportunity, they immediately, with joy, chose to “kill him and see what would come of those dreams”. Yes, that’s what they said. Please be very careful how, when and with whom you share your dreams and visions, otherwise you will die with them. Most people, including friends and some relatives, may not be happy with you, especially if you want to get ahead of them. Joseph paid terribly, and nearly lost his life for his and his father’s carelessness in this. Finally, his actions to get his home/family in order should also extend to assigning responsibilities while he is still alive and preparing a will very early.

Now, you shouldn’t wait until you get old or sick to do this. Some families have been set on fire, some dependents including children have been left stranded and helpless because they were not prepared, fixed, covered by these. Writing a will, grooming, and assigning roles doesn’t automatically mean you’re about to die. No. Rather, it is a surefire way to permanently institutionalize peace, sanity, your love, future, and order in your family. If you haven’t, please do so now. God told King Nehemiah, “Put your house in order…” Yes, we are not about to die, but we must wisely put our house in order. David, my mentor, anointed and established Solomon on the throne while he was still alive. And you know what that saved his family from. God bless you! Now, we will discuss generational curses and generational blessings next time as they were mentioned earlier in this message. It is always an interesting topic. Do not miss it. Blessings to you again!

Gabriel is the author of the books/audiobooks: The Power of Midnight Prayer, Receive Your Healing, Breaking Generational Curses: Reclaiming Your Freedom, Never Again!, I Will Not Die, Carry On and many others https://www.amazon .com /s?k=Gabriel+Agbo&I=audible&ref=dp_byline_sr_audible_1