Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Psalm 127:1
A home is built in stages. Unlike the popular show that had hundreds of workers slaving day and night for a week to finish a mansion, building a house in real life takes a lot of time, effort, and a mighty investment. Interestingly enough, the Bible compares a family to the building of a house, inferring that in order to have a successful family, the Lord must be a part of it. A finished product of a godly marriage and a godly family glorifies its Creator. Marriage isn’t about us but about God. Let’s look at the stages of building a home to see what God desires for a family to look like.
The very first stage of building a house is its foundation. In the natural, a foundation must be strong and solid; otherwise, the entire house can suffer damage over time, and be destroyed. The foundation is the most important part of the process because the stability of the home’s future lies in its integrity. In the spirit, we know that the cornerstone is Jesus “having been built on … Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone.” Ephesians 2:20 Not only do we know that Jesus should be at the foundation of our families and our marriages, but we also know that Jesus is the Word of God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1. Therefore we must understand that our families and marriages must be set upon the Word of God, which is eternal, in order for us to have a foundation that lasts forever.
The next stage in building a house is the framing. The framework is formed by faith and hope. You can see in Hebrews 11:3, By faith, that is, with an inherent trust and enduring confidence in the power, wisdom, and goodness of God, we understand that the universe was framed and created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. Faith is the “leaning of the entire person on God;” so when we say that the framework, the bones of the house, is built on faith, it means that your entire being is planted in faith. Hope, similarly, is defined as “The confident expectation on things beyond this realm.” We see a beautiful example of hope in Romans:
In hope against hope Abraham believed that he would become a father of many nations, as he had been promised by God: “So numberless shall your decedents be.” Without becoming weak in faith he considered his own body, now as good as dead, since he was about a hundred years old, and he considered the deadness of Sarah’s womb. But he did not doubt or waver in unbelief concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and empowered by faith, giving glory to God, being fully convinced that God had the power to do what He had promised. Therefore his faith was credited to him as righteousness. Romans 4:18-22
When all reason for human hope was gone, Abraham continued to put his faith and his hope in the Lord. In doing this, he was not only counted as righteous, but his hope was fulfilled in the promise that God had given. This same hope and faith should be the framework of our families and marriages.
Once the foundation and framing has been built, the subcontractors come in. Those are the plumbers, the electricians, the HVAC guys, who run all of the highly technical factors of the building process. On a spiritual perspective of things, this would be the church and spiritual mentors. When we are building our family on the foundation of Christ, and framing it with hope and faith, we must have those highly trained professionals along to help us to remain in the right path. If we were to try to run wiring ourselves, we might end up with an electrical fire! In the spirit, without advisors, we might end up with an emotional fire. We should have reliable people as an influence into our lives. We simply cannot do this without guidance.
In order to even begin building the solid structure that is to become our home, we must believe. We must believe that Jesus is our cornerstone. We must believe that our faith and hope is in God, that He will bless us as He has promised. We must believe in those that God has appointed to our lives to counsel and mentor us. These three things are the strong base upon which our house will be built.
Self-Reflection
What foundation has your marriage and family been built upon?
Do you feel hope and faith are an active part of your life?
Are there people in your life who can help to guide you when you feel lost?