The Primary Laboratory

By Greg Holt on October 16, 2013 • ( 1 )

By Neil Anderson

October 16

Colossians 3:18-21

Wives, be subject to your husbands . . . Husbands, love your wives . . . Fathers, do not exasperate your children

God works in our lives primarily through committed relationships. Your family is the primary laboratory for your character development. This is precisely the order of Scripture: Establish your identity in Christ, then focus on living out who you are at home. Notice the order in Colossians 3:10-25;

God’s great goal for His children is that we conform to His image: “Put on the new self” (verse 10). Our identity is no longer in racial, religious, cultural or social ties: “There is no distinction . . . but Christ is all and in all” (verse 11). Character is the focus of development once identity is established: “Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (verse 12). Character is developed in the context of relational living: “Bearing with one another, and forgiving each other” (verse 13). Love is the highest level of character development: “Beyond all these things put on love” (verse 14). The means by which all this is accomplished is Christ in you: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts . . . Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you” (verses 15, 16). The primary setting for character development is the home: “Wives, be subject to your husbands . . . Husbands, love your wives . . . Children, be obedient to your parents . . . Fathers, do not exasperate your children” (verses 18-21).

As a parent, you are not just shaping your child’s behavior, you are developing his character. Training a child means discipling him to be Christlike. Don’t be a phony at home; your spouse and children will see right through it. You can’t model perfection, but you can model growth.

Prayer: Lord, help me be the spouse and parent You want me to be by remaining committed to be a growing child of God.

“I’ll MAKE Him Love Me!” (peacefulwife.com)
Ephesians 5: 21 -33 (dailydoseofdean.wordpress.com)
Aiming for Last Place (mikehigh5.wordpress.com)
What’s Love Got To Do With It ? The Pursuit Of Love (poems4him.wordpress.com)

Greg Holt

About the author: Greg is a strong believer in Jesus Christ and is also a political analyst, author, and is the Editor-in-Chief for the National War Council. By day he is a self-employed non-emergency medical transport driver, as well as being an author and blogger. His articles are first published on Inspirational Christian Blogs, and I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel of Christ! His articles have been widely published on many well-known conservative websites. If you would like to republish his articles, please feel free to do so leaving all links intact and crediting the author and the website that the article appeared on.

Greg is the author of the newly released book: Spiritual Darkness is Destroying America and the Church

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Categories: INSPIRATIONAL DEVOTIONS

Tags: Colossians 3:18-21, Compassion, Faith, Gentleness, God, humility, Jesus, kindness, Neil Anderson, patience, Relationships

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The Primary Laboratory

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The Primary Laboratory

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