Balanced Christian Home

Christian life is bi-directional, with vertical and horizontal relationships, where the vertical relationship is with God and the horizontal relationship is with people around us. The cross also signifies these vertical and horizontal aspects. A Christian should have vertical and horizontal relationships in his or her daily life. Both vertical and horizontal relationships, when properly maintained, make up a balanced Christian life.

Whether you are single or married, or parent or grandparent, it is important to understand, from the Word of God, what it means to live like a Christian and make a Christian home. Everybody has a home. Even singles have homes—sometimes alone, sometimes with parents and siblings. If you live singly, or share an apartment with friends, you still live in a home where you feel like going to at the end of the day to rest. Every person should understand the importance of a Christian home.

In some places (such as churches), wonderful sermons are preached about horizontal relationships, concentrating on how to live on this Earth, how to love others, and how to deal with other people. In some other places, the preaching is about vertical relationships, concentrating on how to maintain a relationship with God, not on having a good relationship with fellow believers. We have to maintain balance and give importance to both vertical and horizontal relationships.

You might say, “I have a good relationship with God, but it is getting hard for me to relate with people,” or “I have a clear conscience with God, but I cannot have a clear conscience with people.” God is the one who established the concept of relationships and family; He is the one who established the home; there was a purpose for Him to give both the vertical and horizontal relationships.

In our further study, we will be looking into the horizontal relationships while the vertical relationship is the prominent one. Many psychologists and counselors concentrate only on how to relate with people; there are many books on this subject. The purpose of Balanced Christian Home is to look at the Word of God and learn what the Bible has to say about Christian living.

Our first and foremost priority is to have a vertical relationship with God. If we have no vertical relationship, no matter how good our horizontal relationships may be, it has no significant value in the sight of God. If we have a vertical relationship, it has to be reflected horizontally. If it is not reflected horizontally, it means there is an issue. We have to examine our lives and see how to live in this world as a balanced Christian, cultivating a practical Christian home.

It is important for us to have a realization of our sinful nature, and that Christ alone can forgive us our sins when we repent and ask for forgiveness. If you do not have that experience of salvation, it is vital you consider taking this first step toward Christian living. Later, take the opportunity to share the importance of salvation and gospel with your family members. As mentioned in Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Your household members will start noticing your changed life and, as a result, will be drawn to Christ. Acts 16 records how Lydia was first saved and then influenced her family members. Jailor, mentioned in the same chapter, influenced his whole family to be saved and be baptized. Joshua 24:15 says, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

What did God tell Noah when he was supposed to build an ark? Genesis 7:1 says, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.” God told Noah to take his whole family along with him into the ark. From a spiritual perspective, entering into the ark means to be saved from destruction. After the floods, all humans died, except Noah’s family, who were saved. It was Noah’s responsibility, as the head of the family, to bring his family members into the ark and be saved. Genesis 7:7 says, “Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood.” Look at the sequence how they entered into the ark. Noah’s son’s wives followed their husbands but did not influence them otherwise. When the head of the family is a man of God, he will influence his whole family, and the family members obey the man of God. Verse 1 tells of God’s command to Noah, and in verse 7, we see the obedience to God’s command.

My prayer as you read this book is that God would speak to you afresh through His Scriptures to live a practical Christian life where we will be able to balance our relationships for His glory.