Back to God's Model for Mariage Women's Ministries
by Hannah Butt
What is a family? From watching depictions of families in media, one would be hard- pressed to give a definitive answer. So many TV shows and movies depict the family as anything except a dad, a mom and children all living under the same roof. Many shows glamourize a life with more than one wife, or a home with two dads, or even a broken family living under separate roofs. In light of that, I find it interesting to see how the world celebrated when a prince and his wife had their third child. Ten a few weeks later the world practically stopped when another prince took a woman to be his wife. I think the world is actually hungry for the picture of a stable, normal family. Te Bible tells us right at the very
beginning in the book of Genesis exactly what a family should be. “And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth …’” (Gen. 1:28). One man and one woman. In the Old Testament examples of families that were made up of multiple relationships, tension always existed between the different parties. Just think of Hagar and Sarai (Gen. 16). Joseph and Benjamin were Jacob’s favourite sons because they came from his favourite wife (Gen. 37). Nowhere in God’s Word do we ever see a family made up of two men or two women; this setup was never God’s plan. A man and a woman were created and designed by God’s hand for very specific purposes. Tis is God’s standard for a family. God uses this standard time and time again. John the Baptist came from one husband and one wife. Even God’s own Son was sent to one man and one woman. I know that we live in a broken world, a world filled with sin, and sometimes families are broken and
living under separate roofs, but this is not God’s ideal. As sinners saved by grace we don’t always get it right. Daniel and I once lived in an apartment
building, and people would comment on how “sweet” it was to see us going out and coming in together — to them that was un- usual. Te world is hungry to see something different, something stable and strong that will stand the test of time. As we make our wedding vows, we are making an unbreak- able covenant between a man and a woman and God Himself. Te wedding vows do not promise “till divorce do us part,” but “till death do us part.” A man and a woman sep- arate from their parents and join together, thus beginning a new family unit. Our families are under attack; the devil
never wants God’s standard to succeed. Everywhere we look, the family model is being twisted and distorted. Yet the longing to see a “normal” family was evident in recent weeks as the world eagerly watched two royal princes and their families through birth and marriage. As Christians, we need to be an everyday
example of what God wants a family to be: a husband and a wife committed to each other. We need to constantly guard our own families and the families around us through prayer and obedience to God. We need to teach our children what it means to please God as a family, guarding their hearts and minds for their future.
Hannah Butt and her husband Daniel live in Swiſt Current, Sask., and serve in Fairview Bible Church. Hannah mothers her three children and works as a member of the Commission on Women’s Ministries.
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