Parenting by Design Daily DevotionalSample

PUT GOD FIRST

Let's focus on the thought behind this passage, rather than its more difficult teaching about the advisability of marriage. Paul understood the tension a man or woman would face when they were married and had a family. The nature of the responsibility is such that a parent's attention is divided between the temporal family and God. That is a tension we all live with.

On the other hand, it is very clear that our first loyalty is to God, trusting Him to help us deal with all our other responsibilities. The key is to keep our focus on walking in God's will, and to model that devotion for the entire family.

We cannot shun our responsibilities as parents, but we can place our family in the correct position, behind God, in the hierarchy of our love and attention.