The least we can do as God’s children is to show Him the respect and reverence He deserves and demands.  While the lack of godly fear is a sign of arrogance and ignorance, fearing God demonstrates wisdom and knowledge.

Psalm 111:10 (ESV)

¹⁰ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!  

This week we have considered different ways and areas where we can show reverence to God.  I want to close the week by considering the importance of showing reverence to God in our homes.

The home is an institution founded by God.  We honor Him when we abide by the rules that He has established for the home.  The heart of the ideal home as God would have it is marriage. Thus, we must first identify what constitutes marriage.  Remember, since God created marriage, it is whatever He says it is.  And what does God say that marriage is?

Genesis 2:21–24 (ESV)

²¹ So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.  ²² And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.  ²³ Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”  ²⁴ Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

The Bible makes it clear that marriage is made up of a man and a woman.  Not two men or two women, but two individuals of the opposite sex.  This is non-negotiable.  Yes, our government has legislated same-sex marriage into law, but the government cannot determine what true marriage is.  Only God can do that.

Homes that glorify homosexuality by promoting a relationship between two people of the same sex show irreverence toward God.  It is to tell God that his plan for marriage is not good enough.   As seen in the passage above, God’s divine view of marriage is one man and one woman for life.  Anything else, even if man calls it marriage, is really not marriage at all and does not show reverence to God, regardless of what the participants think.

Having a home that involves a marriage between a man and a woman is good but not enough to show reverence to God in it.  We only show reverence to God in our homes by following the pattern for the home that he has installed through His word, including husbands and wives abiding in their respective roles.  Husbands are to lead as the heads of their homes, and wives are to submit to their own husbands and be keepers of their homes (Ephesians 5:22-33; Titus 2:3-5).  Once again, this is non-negotiable.  Man does not have a say in this.  It does not matter what man thinks or how he feels.  The roles in marriage are set, and it is only when we abide by these roles that we show God that we have reverence for Him.

Finally, we show reverence for God in our homes when we determine to be the kind of loving parents and obedient children that He would have us to be (Ephesians 6:1-4).

Apart from the church, the home is the greatest institution in the world and God can be greatly honored by it, but only if we follow His design for it.  Let all of us who are married do all we can to reverence God by helping our homes be the kind that God designed them to be.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.