a mediocre, inconsistent home, un less the Holy Spirit used some out side individual to inspire the life of that young person. The reason that mediocre, Christian homes produce mediocre, Christian young people is because they see inconsistency. They may have seen mother and dad fight with one another for control or ex hibit wrath, hostility, bitterness, and explode, then go to church, and act sweet and gracious. More than one young person has sat in the back seat of the family automobile, heard mother and dad jangle all of the way to the church, because dad can’t un derstand why mother wasn’t on time. As soon as they drive into the church parking lot, their sweet, Christian smiles fasten onto their pasty faces, and they give everyone their best “Ipana Grin.” The kids sit in the back and think, “What hypocrites my parents are!” Your reactions will prove what you really are, and the people closest to you see them. The way to change your reactions is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I am not going into a lengthy dis sertation on how to be filled with the Holy Spirit at this time. I would suggest that you read the Bible and pray reguarly. Make it a point to confess all known sin, as soon as you are conscious of it. On the basis of Ephesians 4:30- 32, I believe anger, hostility, bitter ness, and wrath keep more Chris tians from being consistent in the home and being Spirit-filled than any other sin. Galatians 4:16 commands us to “Walk in the Spirit.” Walking in the Spirit is the key to a success ful adjustment in a marriage. CHAPTER SIX Everyone is interested in happi ness in marriage, yet 500,000 people failed the happiness test last year and sought divorce. No doubt, there were many others that were just as unhappy but for some reason or an other they didn’t seek divorce. I am
CHAPTER FIVE Adjustment is the key to a happy marriage! If you adjust properly in the mental areas of life, it naturally will spill over into the physical areas, and if your spiritual adjustment is what it should be, it makes it easier to adjust mentally and thus physical ly. The Bible tells us that the com plete Christian man is one who is filled with the Spirit. Since the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long- suffering, etc., you’ll find it easy to make adjustment when the Holy Spirit fills and controls your life. In reality, you are the key to your home. Dr. Henry Brandt points out that adéquate parents are made up of adequate partners. Adequate part ners are made up of adequate people. Adjustment can start with one in dividual. You can make a proper spiritual adjustment and then lead your partner in making his. There is nothing so important in the home as Christian consistency. The average home experiences all of the traumas of life, consequently, what you are in the home is what you really are. You can tell much more by a person’s reactions than you can by his actions. We can pre meditate our actions, but we cannot premeditate reactions. They are the result of the real you. That’s a sober ing thought sometimes, but it is true nonetheless. Therefore, it is impor tant for us to learn to react in the Spirit. If you are not projecting a consistent Christian testimony in the home, then basically, you have a spiritual problem. Consistency in the home is par ticularly important as children grow up. I have observed as a pastor that the young people that come to us from consecrated Christian homes usually become consecrated Chris tians. The young people that come from unsaved homes can also become consecrated Christians. To my knowl edge, I have never seen a consecrated Christian young person come out of 8
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online