The Fulfilled Family

I am just finishing up The Fulfilled Family by John MacArthur and I thought I would share some of my favorite quotes and verses with you from the book.

" . . . if the family crumbles as an institution, all of civilization will ultimately crumble along with it."

"It may well be that the example we set before the world through strong homes and healthy families will in the long run be one of the most powerful, attractive, and living proofs that when the Bible speaks, it speaks with the authority of the God who created---us and whose design for the family is perfect."

" . . . it is folly to imagine that our families can be what He intended if we refuse to set Him first in the family."

"Christ must be first in our hearts and in our families."

"It's only when we love Him more than family that we can really love our families in the highest, purest sense."

" . . . submission is the single principle that sums up the character of a truly Spirit-filled person."

"Christians are supposed to submit to one another."

The Keys to Family Harmony: Mutual Submission, Spiritual Equality, Tender Self-sacrifice, Godly Humility, and Loving Service.

" . . . the word submit is not the word obey.  What it calls for is an active, deliberate, loving, inteligent devotion tot he husband's noble aspirations and ambitions."

"The world wants a more humanistic and egalitarian approach to society: a sexless, classless, artificial equality."

"Wives . . . be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear" (I Peter 3:1-2).

"Genuine faith produces one kind of fear and does away with the other."

"One expression in Titus 2 deserves special notice.  It is the word homemakers.  The Greek word is oikourgous, which literally means 'workers at home.'  Oikos is the Greek word for 'home,' and ergon means 'work, employment.'  It suggests that a married woman's first duty is to her own family, in her own household.  Managing her own home should be her primary employment, her first task, her most important job, and her true career.  I am convinced the Holy Spirit meant for believers to apply this even in the twenty-first century."

"We have a serious problem in contemporary society: no one is home."

" . . . millions of preschool-age children are growing up in day-care centers rather than in the home."

"The exodus of mothers from the home has surely contributed to the rising tide of juvenile delinquency, the dramatic increase in adultery and in the divorce rate, and a host of other problems related to the disintegration of the family."

"According to the Bible, the mother's life belongs in the home."

"[Being a homemaker] is so much God's design for women that Paul even urged young widows to pursue remarriage rather than a career."

"She's creative, industrious, intelligent, resourceful, and enterprising."

Proverbs 31:10-31 -

10  Who can find a virtuous wife?

For her worth is far above rubies.

11  The heart of her husband safely trusts her;

So he will have no lack of gain.

12  She does him good and not evil

All the days of her life.

13  She seeks wool and flax,

And willingly works with her hands.

14  She is like the merchant ships,

She brings her food from afar.

15  She also rises while it is yet night,

And provides food for her household,

And a portion for her maidservants.

16  She considers a field and buys it;

From her profits she plants a vineyard.

17  She girds herself with strength,

And strengthens her arms.

18  She perceives that her merchandise is good,

And her lamp does not go out by night.

19  She stretches out her hands to the distaff,

And her hand holds the spindle.

20  She extends her hand to the poor,

Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.

21  She is not afraid of snow for her household,

For all her household is clothed with scarlet.

22  She makes tapestry for herself;

Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

23  Her husband is known in the gates,

When he sits among the elders of the land.

24  She makes linen garments and sells them,

And supplies sashes for the merchants.

25  Strength and honor are her clothing;

She shall rejoice in time to come.

26  She opens her mouth with wisdom,

And on her tongue is the law of kindness.

27  She watches over the ways of her household,

And does not eat the bread of idleness.

28  Her children rise up and call her blessed;

Her husband also, and he praises her:

29  "Many daughters have done well,

But you excel them all."

30  Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,

But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

31  Give her of the fruit of he hands,

And let her own works praise her in the gates.

"This passage is the definitive biblical answer to those who claim women are automatically stifled in their God-given role as homemakers."

" . . . seeking out bargains wherever they may be found.  She'll go wherever she has to go to get the best price and the highest-quality produce or materials."

"She's not lazy.  She is disciplined."

"Not only that, but she is shrews in business.  Having managed the household finances well and frugally, she finds a field that is a good bargain, buys the field, purchases vines, and plants a vineyard (v. 16).  Now she has a home business.  She is strong (v. 17); she is enterprising (v. 18); she is generous (v. 20); and she is confident (v. 21).  But her home is still where she has cast her anchor."

"She is one of the main reasons for her husband's success and good reputation (v. 23)."