What Matters Most

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.  For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,  their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15

When I was young, my friends and I wanted to build a soap box derby race car. We made designs, we gathered the material we would need and we went to work. As we worked we learned that it was much harder and was taking much more time than we expected. We grew impatient and decided to use duct tape to hold it all together. We then spent considerable time on the outside; painting, making racing stripes, and making it look really cool. We took our masterpiece to the top of a big hill and prepared for glory. It traveled about 20 feet before completely falling apart, because it was not well built.

Turns out duct tape does not hold things together as well as we thought. That experience reminds me of this scripture and is an illustration of what can happen when I become fatigued and impatient building my family. Families cannot be held together by duct tape; instead they must be built well. Convictions are the materials with which great families are built. Building families with conviction is the greatest endeavor any of us can undertake.

The first thing we need to know about convictions is that they are not cheap. If you want a deep conviction you will have to pay for it. In fact, we have to pay a high price for convictions. But a family built on convictions is worth every penny, because, when it comes to building a family, convictions are what matter most.

• How are you building your family?
• What areas of family building am I currently holding together with duct tape? (Marriage, Finances, Intimacy)
• What convictions can I purchase through Bible study, openness, and prayer?

Here are some scriptures to get us started building.

• Luke 6:46-49
• Proverbs 14:11
• Proverbs 15:6
• Proverbs 24:2-4