Navigating Friendships, Romance and Broken Promises

Run from temptations that capture young people.
Always do the right thing. Be faithful, loving, and easy to get along with. Worship with people whose hearts are pure. Stay away from stupid and senseless arguments. These only lead to trouble, and God’s servants must not be troublemakers. They must be kind to everyone, and they must be good teachers and very patient. Be humble when you correct people who oppose you. Maybe God will lead them to turn to him and learn the truth.

2 Timothy 2:22-25 (CEV)

What is a “Christ-centered home?” One thing’s certain: it’s not a home governed by dead, restrictive “religious” rules. Instead, it’s a place where family members live their lives in the power & presence of the Son of God – where people speak and act and relate to one another in the awareness that Jesus Himself is an intimately concerned participant in everything they do. It’s a household of which it can truly be said, “Christ is the Head of this house, the Unseen Guest at every meal, the Silent Listener to every conversation.”

How does this “Christ-centeredness” play itself out in the practical details of everyday life? To a certain extent it expresses itself differently from situation to situation. Every Christian family, like every Christian individual, is a poem (Greek poiema, “workmanship”) written by God (Ephesians 2:10), and every poem is unique. But there aresome common features we can expect to find in every genuinely Christ-centered home.

• Joy is characteristic of a truly Christian home. Having said this, it’s important to understand that joy and happiness are not necessarily the same thing. 
  Happiness is a result of what happens to us. Joy has deeper roots. Every marriage, relationship and family will experience trials and hardships of various kinds, but there is no circumstance that can rob us of our joy if we know that the key to our present and future peace lies in Christ alone.

• A Christ-centered home should be marked by grace. It should be a safe place to mess up. Family members need to remember that love, not perfection, is the goal. There’s enough hostility, judgment, sarcasm, biting humor, and antagonism out in the relationships at school, work and play. Home should be a retreat where the hurting can find comfort, rest and healing.

• A Christian home is a place of service. Its atmosphere is tempered and flavored with acts of kindness, respect, humility, and love. This is where husbands and wives discover that serving each other in Christ is primary; that serving others in community (friendships, dating relationships, etc.) is built upon an attitude of selflessness at home toward one another; and that all of life, including the daily tasks of housekeeping, helping out and sharing the same space can be sacred.

• A Christ-centered home is a place where the spiritual disciplines are practiced. It provides an environment where every member of the family learns how to live by studying the Scriptures, praying, meditating on God’s Word, and spending time alone in the presence of the Lord. It also means we practice repentance & extend forgiveness in situations where we hurt each other – intentionally or otherwise.

• A Christian home is based on God’s purposes for every member of the family. It’s a place where the family’s goals are founded upon His values and where the corporate vision of the future is consistent with His plan. The guiding principles for caring for each person in the family should be flexible but consistent. From beginning to end, they should reflect one focus and express your deep hope of seeing each child, parent and person in the family find & follow Jesus personally.

Excerpted from The Complete Guide to the First Five Years of Marriage, a Focus on the Family Book published by Tyndale House Publishers. Copyright ¬© 2006,

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