Sessions Include:

Honoring God, Lesson #1
David’s Worship
1 Chronicles 15:1–3, 14–16, 25–29a

Honoring God, Lesson #2
David’s Gratitude
1 Chronicles 16:8–12, 28–36

Honoring God, Lesson #3|
David’s House
1 Chronicles 17:1, 3, 4, 11–14; 21:18, 21–27

Honoring God, Lesson #4
David’s Prayer
1 Chronicles 17:16–27

Honoring God, Lesson #5
Solomon Summons the Ark
1 Kings 8.1 - 13

Honoring God, Lesson #6
Solomon Speaks to the People
1 Kings 8.14 - 21

Honoring God, Lesson #7
Solomon Seeks God’s Blessing
1 Kings 8.22 - 53

Honoring God, Lesson #8
Solomon Anticipates Praise
1 Kings 8.54 - 61

Honoring God, Lesson #9
Single-minded Obedience
Matthew 4.1 - 11

Honoring God, Lesson #10
God-Honoring Piety
Matthew 6:1–8

Honoring God, Lesson #11
Kingdom-Seeking Prayer
Matthew 6:9–15

Honoring God, Lesson #12
Ever-Persevering Petitions
Luke 11:5–13

God came up with the idea of families. If He created the concept, then you know it must be a good one. But any observer of the modern-day family would quickly conclude that the design isn’t working—there are too many dysfunctional families. Has the concept become outmoded due to cultural advances or adversities? Is it now a cruel practical joke that God plays on humanity by insisting that people artificially hang together—even when they are repulsed by each other?

The problem of the dysfunctional family is not the fault of God, nor is it a defect in His design. The problem is that individual family members have not been operating according to God’s principles. His intent is that we function in the family for the sake of the other members:

• The husband is to love his wife.
• The wife is to respect her husband.
• The parents are to care for their children.
• The children are to honor their parents.

Well, it looks good on paper—but why doesn’t it work in our living rooms? Because we selfishly twist God’s principles for family life. For many people, their family mantra has become “All for one, and I’m the one.” And the self-centeredness of only one member in a family is enough to make the entire group dysfunctional. So the breakdown can be caused by:

• an overbearing parent;
• a rebellious teenager;
• a disobedient child;
• an unfaithful spouse;
• a non-confrontive or enabling spouse;
• an intrusive in-law;
• an envious sibling.

Even if all of the members of a family are well-intentioned, the breakdown of relationships can be initiated by outside factors such as financial problems, health challenges, or conflicts at work. The stress caused by intervening events can cause family members to respond in less-than-loving ways to each other. And that is putting it mildly.

What role can you play when the disintegration of a family seems irreversible? How can you alone attempt to change the direction once the downward spiral of familial dysfunction has begun? Is it realistic to think that a broken family can be restored if only one person is committed to pursuing reconciliation?

The solution to these problems begins with a simple rule: Honor God. That is what He expects of you. That and that alone. By honoring God in everything you do and say, you’ll be a positive influence in your family. You aren’t responsible for—or capable of— changing the attitudes of the other members of your family. The best thing you can do for your family is to infuse it with the influence of godly character. That can come from you.

Will this be difficult? You bet! But notice that God’s principles for family living are not conditioned on the reciprocal behavior of the others. In other words:

• the husband is to love his wife, even if she is ill-tempered;
• the wife is to respect her husband, even if he is lazy and inattentive;
• the parents are to care for their children, even if they are unappreciative and disobedient; and
• the children are to honor their parents, even if they are unfair and restrictive.

So that is your challenge. And that is your solution. Love when you don’t feel like it. Love when you aren’t loved back. Love when it appears that there is no hope of reconciliation. You will be honoring God by honoring His design for the operation of the family.

That is the best thing you can do for your family. It is the best thing you can do for yourself.

Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz, God Is in the Small Stuff for Tough Times (Uhrichsville, OH: Barbour Books, 2013).

We have just released a new Bible study on topic of Honoring God.

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