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Homes have personalities. Some are warm and inviting. As soon as you walk in, you want to sit on the couch and relax. Others are cold. As soon as you walk in, you want to walk out. Some homes are fun. There is laughter, joking, and comfortable interaction. Some homes are wound so tight you can cut the tension with a knife. What’s your home like? Better…what do you want your home to be? This week we have focused on the premier parenting passage of Scripture. Let’s check it out one more time.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

So, I said that homes have personalities. They really don’t. They absorb the characteristics of those that live within their walls. That’s why Moses reminds us to let the instructions of God be written on the doorposts—the first thing you see when you come in and the last thing you see when you leave. So, what’s a “godly” home look like? Feel like? Here’s what I think. Feel free to add your own descriptors.

Conversation. Laughter. Honesty. Openness. Eating together. Playing together. Having conflict. Handling conflict. Real. No masks. No hiding places. Free to express feelings. Free to disagree. Deep discussions. Serious debate. Funny stories. History together. Encouraging words. Unconditional love. Hugs. Tears. Frequent “I’m sorry” and “I will always have your back.” (Coffee, apple crisp, chocolate chip cookies, and good-humored sarcasm are added to the above as Moore family requirements!)

Father, let our homes have your personality. May you be honored in our conversations and actions from the time we get up until the time we go to bed. In Jesus’ name. Amen.