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Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…
Ephesians 5:25
Reflect
When Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, she used her acceptance speech as an opportunity to share the Gospel with the world. During her speech, she equated peace with love, and the sharing of Christ’s love as the key to spreading peace throughout the world. At one point she said that, “Love begins at home.”
Later, she said, “And so, my prayer for you is that truth will bring prayer in our homes, and from the foot of prayer will be that we believe that in the poor it is Christ. And we will really believe, we will begin to love. And we will love naturally, we will try to do something. First in our own home, next door neighbor in the country we live, in the whole world.”
In other words, before we can spread love throughout the world, we have to do it right in our own homes.
Paul was a big believer in the importance of family. He wrote, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:23)
He followed that two verses later with, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…” (Ephesians 5:25)
Later in his letter, he addressed children: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” (Ephesians 6:1)
The Lord calls each of us to maintain strong family ties. Faith in God, rooted in family life, has been the backbone of America’s strength and success. But as we see America struggling, it’s clear that integrity, faith, productivity, respect and godliness are often in short supply. Those are qualities that the Holy Spirit produces in and through our families.
Let us each turn to our homes and love our families, if for no other reason than because we love the Lord. If you desire world peace and long for America to become great again, let your efforts begin with care and concern for your family.
Reflection copyright © 2025 Doug DeBolt and Charles Fulton.
