“The house of the wicked shall be overthrown, but the tent of the upright shall flourish.”

~Proverbs 14:11

EDITOR’S NOTE:

This post was originally published in the Excellence for Every Day blog circa 2015.

Enjoy! -Mica

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Although this may come as a surprise, the condition of our home life reveals the true level of our spiritual health and maturity. Over and over, the Bible discusses the importance of developing strong, godly character within our marriages and families. In fact, Paul instructs potential leaders to demonstrate excellence in the home before being promoted to any leadership position in the church (See 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1).

One of my favorite verses regarding God’s will for the home is found in Proverbs 14:11 (AMP), which states “the house of the wicked shall be overthrown, but the tent of the upright shall flourish.” As I was studying this scripture, I discovered that Strong’s defines “flourish” as to break forth as a bud; to be abundant; to blossom; to break forth; to flourish, grow, and spread. According to the dictionary, “flourish” means to be in a vigorous state; to thrive; to be at the height of fame, excellence, influence; to be successful and prosper; to grow luxuriously or thrive in growth as a plant. Isn’t that amazing!

Not only does God want our home lives to be blessed, but He wants them to literally thrive! Prosperity, abundance, success, and influence belong to the home of the righteous. In fact, the godly should be an example of excellence in every area of the home life including the marriage relationship, parenting, financial integrity, and domestic appearance and function. Above all, the home should be a testimony to the world of God’s life-changing power working in our hearts.

But a godly home that flourishes doesn’t come automatically; just like anything else in our Christian life, we have to cooperate with God and His Word for His promises to be fulfilled in our lives. Based on the whole counsel of God’s Word, here are five principles that will unleash God’s power within our homes and cause our homes to flourish and abound.

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1. HONOR GOD IN THE HOME

It may sound simple, but honoring God in our personal lives is the foundation for a flourishing home life. It’s easy for us to say we honor God, but our actions reveal the true direction of our hearts.

Honoring God isn’t just something we do on Sundays; it’s a lifestyle we are committed to every day of the week. Honoring God is a way in which we show the Lord who and what has first place in our hearts. If we are quick to compromise areas of integrity, we are dishonoring the Lord. When we allow sin into our thoughts, words, and actions, we are dishonoring the Lord. If we refuse to walk in love, we are dishonoring the Lord.

A life of honor is one that demonstrates our reverence, respect, and love for God, His Word, His Spirit, and His plan for our lives. A life of honor is one that hates sin and loves holiness. A life of honor is one that treasures truth more than lies, consecration more than compromise, and the things of the spirit more than the things of the flesh (Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 6:7-10; Galatians 5:13-26).

“A life of honor is one that hates sin and loves holiness. A life of honor is one that treasures truth more than lies, consecration more than compromise, and the things of the spirit more than the things of the flesh.”

In a practical sense, honoring God in our homes comes down to the way our hearts refuse to tolerate worldliness in our personal lives. If we allow trash into our homes, then trash comes out of our homes. The kinds of influences we open our homes to affect not only our thoughts and attitudes, but our hearts and the hearts of our children (Proverbs 3:20-27). And yes, even the music we listen to, the movies we watch, and the words we speak have an incredible impact on the atmosphere in our home! If we want our homes to flourish, then we must put away sin and determine to honor God in all we say and do (Romans 6:14; Romans 13:12-14).

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2. HONOR THE WORD

Another crucial principle in obtaining a prosperous home is honoring God’s Word. This means giving the Word of God first place in our hearts, our thoughts, our words, and our actions. (See all of Psalm 119.)

Honoring the Word begins with a heart for God’s Word (Psalm 119 verses 2, 10, 34, 36, 69, 11, and 112). It’s amazing to me how so many people try to justify their actions by twisting verses of scripture to support their sin. In so doing, they totally violate the principle of putting God’s Word first in their lives. To honor the Word of God means coming before the Word with a humble, open heart to receive eternal truth from God. This Word will often bring comfort and encouragement, but it will also bring correction (2 Timothy 3:15-17). Many times the Holy Spirit will speak to us through His Word and show us areas where we are missing the mark. It’s so important to receive these words of correction, because without them, we cannot grow into Christlikeness!

Honoring the Word also means putting God’s Word above all other things in life. Sometimes, we have to make sacrifices in order to honor the Word. We have to spend time daily in God’s Word, sit faithfully under the teaching and preaching of God’s Word, and receive God’s Word with reverence and faith (Romans 10:17; Hebrews 4:2). When we understand that the Word of God is the very foundation upon which we stand, any sacrifice to honor God’s Word pales in comparison to knowing we are placing our feet upon the Rock. By planting our life in the Word, we will endure, excel, and flourish!

Honoring the Word also means being obedient to the Word. Yes, I said obedience! When we see something in the Word of God and fail to obey it, we are dishonoring God’s Word. Think about that for a minute. Disobedience to even the simplest instructions in Scripture is showing a lack of respect and reverence for the Word of God. And a home without obedience to the Word is a home without honor for God’s Word. This type of home will never flourish or prosper (Romans 6:16; James 1:22-25).

3. COOPERATE WITH THE GRACE

Failure to cooperate with our designated roles as husbands and wives not only causes friction in our homes, but it literally clogs up the river of God’s blessings. The Word of God is very clear about the roles and functions of the husband and wife in the home. When we step out of our places and try to function in the place of our mate, we become frustrated, our mate becomes frustrated, and nothing seems to work out right. If not corrected, this out-of-place behavior can eventually lead to chaos, stress, and dysfunction in the home.

It would behoove us to study God’s Word and find out what He has called us to do within the confines of our marriage. When we make the adjustments to walk in God’s Word, we’ll be amazed at the peace and blessing that overtakes our home and family!

As a reminder, the Word of God speaks about three major functions the husband has within the home: He is to lead his wife, provide for his wife, and love his wife. Failure to do any three of these jeopardizes the grace of God in the marriage and limits the blessings of God on the home (1 Timothy 5:8; Ephesians 5:21-33; 1 Peter 3:7).

“If the wife pushes these roles aside in an effort to usurp her husband’s authority and lead her home, she frustrates the grace of God on her life and on her marriage.”

The Word is also very clear regarding the roles of the wife: She is to be a helpmeet to her husband, she is to submit to her husband, she is to honor and respect her husband, and she is to be the caretaker of the home. Again, if the wife pushes these roles aside in an effort to usurp her husband’s authority and lead her home, she frustrates the grace of God on her life and on her marriage (Genesis 2:20; Ephesians 5:21-33; 1 Peter 3:1-6; 1 Corinthians 7:34; Titus 2:3-5).

If we want our homes to flourish, we must cooperate with God’s Word and function in our places! As we submit to God’s authority in our home lives, we’ll begin to abound in the blessings of the Lord.

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4. BE FAITHFUL IN AND OUT OF THE HOME

One of the most overlooked attributes of the authentic Christian life has been the fruit of faithfulness (Galatians 5:22-25). In order for our homes to flourish, we must remain faithful in all of our endeavors. In addition to being faithful to the Lord and to our spouses, we must also be faithful in our jobs, our finances, our relationships, and our church or ministry.

Faithfulness also lends itself to being diligent in multiple areas of our practical lives, including our commitment to tithe, our faithfulness to get up every day and work with excellence at our job, our diligence to be a good steward over our finances, resources, and talents, and our faithfulness to raise our children in the admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). All these things play a vital role in the health and prosperity of our home.

5. STAND ON THE WORD

Finally, when we have done all to stand, what do we do? We stand! (Ephesians 6:13-14). As we press on towards the goal of a flourishing home, we must continue to stand on the promises of God’s Word. It’s vital for us to feed on God’s Word regarding our marriage and family and to proclaim those promises over our lives on a daily basis. The Word sown into our hearts and spoken through our mouths is a powerful tool that not only brings the promises of God to pass in our lives, but also fights off every attack of the enemy. It is absolutely certain that the enemy will target our homes and families, but we resist and overcome him with the power of God’s Word.

As we honor God and His Word, cooperate with Him in our marriage, demonstrate faithfulness, and stand our ground, we will see our homes literally transform from the status quo to a place of prominence, blessing, and influence. We can flourish and abound by the grace of God!

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