Before I was married, I often wondered what my family and home would be like.

I wanted to share the things that were on my heart during that season of my life which have helped anchor and carry me into my current season of being a wife and mother of three boys.

All families are filled with back to back experiences of having to navigate through very REAL issues. all of us, whether active or passive are affected by what goes on within our family unit.

There are times of joy, disappointment, pain, anger, resentment, bitterness, success, loss and so much more and through all this drama, somehow Christ has to be at the centre!

The family unit is a beautiful, multilayered and complex thing that God has ordained to be put together to the glory of His name. There is purpose, intentionality, and beauty that can be experienced deeply when we choose to keep Christ at the centre of the home.

With eyes and heart heavenward it is assembled together to fulfill the purpose of God for each individual and as a unit. Gracefully reflecting the heart beat of God towards us as His children, His bride and as humanity.

The Gospel is Christ

The Gospel is Christ and His truth displayed to the world. It celebrates that fact that in Him we have been awakened and made alive to the rich and surrendered life that He already planned for us to live. The Gospel is the sweet aroma of the fragrance of Jesus Christ poured out like hot oil onto the dry and barren land of our hearts. In this pouring; love, grace and mercy collide to bring us to our knees in unashamed repentance. We wonder what kind of love is this? How can I deserve such a love? How can I share this with others?

What a Christ centered home looks like

So my heart leans into this, pondering on what a Christ centered home and life looks like.

• To me, a Christ-centered family does not present perfection. Rather, it represents the ever-abounding grace of God that floods our lives and mobilises us into compassionate action towards one another and those outside of the fold. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you”. Ephesians 4:32
• It has its gaze, hope and purpose fixed heavenward where the Father is. The Father leads this family through the vessel of the man whom He places in a position of headship and Biblical leadership to lovingly guide and steer the direction of the family as the Holy Spirit leads- to the glory of God. “Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth”. Colossians 3:2

• A Christ-centered is seen through the demonstration of servant leadership and willing submission. “I will wash your feet and in doing so will show you how prepared I am to lay aside my own needs and desires to esteem you higher than myself”. “Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ”. Ephesians 5:21

• It is defined, and lives according to the Word of God. Christ is so intricately, yet visibly intertwined in conversation, behaviour and everyday life between the married couple and their children. We of ourselves are not so interesting. In fact we are pretty dull. It is the magnificent Gospel that we have been given to bear that makes us radiate. “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Deuteronomy 6:7

• The family is filled by the gentleness of a woman who expresses mature femininity, comprehensive submission and other Godly characteristics- all which help to strengthen, bolster and support that which God has entrusted and blessed her with. She builds, she does not tear down. “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.” Psalm 128:3, “The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down.” Proverbs 14:1

• A Christ centered family is one where God is reverenced, and His peace, authority and presence rests upon the dwelling place of the family. “So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” Romans 14:19

• It’s a family which champions faith in Jesus Christ, and where parents live this out and teach it to their children to reverence, love and live in relationship with the Lord. “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

• To me a Christ centered family is one that trades in the physical/temporary and fleeting things for the spiritual everlasting things. Where all are fed by the ever flowing and nourishing waters that flow from the wellspring of life, Jesus Christ. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21, “By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.” Proverbs 24:3-4

I am humbled that broken that I am, God is using me.