What Is The Home?

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

As we let our mind run through the teaching of the word of God, it must become immediately evident that the basic quality of a home is love. A home without love is no home at all; it's just a place to live, a place to change your clothes and catch a bite to eat, and get ready for the next outing. But homes are places where love reigns, otherwise they're not homes.

It begins with the love of a man and his wife for each other. When I stand at a wedding altar and join together two people who are beginning a home, it is obvious they love each other. You can see it in their faces as they exchange vows. This is the true beginning of a home, and as children come along in homes, that love broadens out to include every single child.

But in many homes today, love is gone. Each party in the home is concerned with their own interests and has forgotten that the basic ingredient essential to home life is to be concerned with each other's interests instead. Many homes exist on the basis of trying to preserve order, if nothing else. I think of the man with a military background who would get his family up every morning and line them up and give them orders for the day. He would give them out and say, Any questions? And for the most part no one dared ask any questions. But after several long years of this, finally his eight year old boy raised his hand. The father said to him, All right, what do you want to know? The boy said, How do you get out of this outfit? You can't blame him for asking that!

The problem with many homes is that they think there is love, but it's only self concern. Love is a misunderstood quality. Unfortunately, under the perverted impact of much of Hollywood's production we have a false concept of love. We think that love is sort of a warm feeling, but love is acceptance and self-giving. This is why Christians have the greatest possibility for a happy home — Christians are continually experiencing this kind of love from God. He accepts us, doesn't he? He loves us, he doesn't get sarcastic with us, nor treat us with disdain. He loves us even though our behavior doesn't meet with his approval.

Love is making time to be with one another, talk to one another, and share one another's interests. Otherwise, how can love be self-giving? Self-giving requires time, and in our modern homes this is one of the major problems. There's so little time to be together. If the home begins to suffer in this respect, then time must be made to be together in order that love may have its healing effect. We need to talk and share and work together, and the happiest homes are always homes where a family makes the effort to be together and to share together. This doesn't come by demanding time, it comes by giving time. As you begin this in your home, it makes it easier for the rest in the home to share as well. So love is the first ingredient of an ideal home.

Father, thank you for the privilege of having a home where I belong, a place of love which calls to mind the dearest memories of my life because there I was loved. I pray that my home will be a place where love dwells.