Welcome to the preaching ministry of Tri-City Baptist Church in Chandler, Arizona. Our desire is that God would be magnified through the preaching of His word, and that Christians would be challenged, strengthened, and edified in their personal walk with Christ. I invite you to take your Bibles this evening and turn with me to Colossians chapter three. Colossians chapter three. wanting to do kind of a wrap-up of the series that we had on Matrimony Matters. Pastor Ball took five weeks, took the five key passages that look at marriage and really gave us the theological foundation and then the practical applications of that. We took last week and did a panel question answer taking the questions you had asked and then seeking to answer those. There were a few other questions. Pastor Nathan had taken those and tried to consolidate. Hopefully we covered the areas. There were a couple that probably to really answer, we would have needed more detail. It was a type of question that it seemed like there was more backstory, but we tried to answer what was available. And I know some of you said, well, those questions could have gone a lot of other directions. That's true. But there were also a couple of questions on parenting. And so rather than trying to squeeze those in, thought that we would take a few moments this evening and look at those. And again, within this context. On August 28th of last year, 2024, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory on the mental health and well-being of parents. He stressed the, and I quote, the urgent need to better support parents and families to help communities thrive. And he went on to say that the parents were experiencing high levels of stress which, quote, face heightened risks of symptoms of depression and anxiety for earlier onset occurrence of prolonged functional impairment from the mental health conditions. He continued to say, and this is from that release by the Surgeon General, parents have a profound impact on the health of children and the health of society. Yet parents and caregivers today face tremendous pressures from familiar stressors such as worrying about their kids' health and safety and financial concerns to new challenges of navigating technology, social media, youth mental health crisis, an epidemic of loneliness that has hit young people the hardest. The New York Times then reported on this and said that parents are facing more demanding expectations that they spend time and money educating and enriching their children. There is a fear that if children don't receive every possible advantage, they might not achieve a secure middle class life. This parenting style is known as intensive parenting. The Atlantic, just a few weeks ago, defined intensive parenting by the amount of time, labor, and money it demands. That it might involve expensive baby gear, or spending so much time with one's kids that there is no time for parents. But it's all done in the child's interests. Now, in reading that, I say, okay, yes, parenting is difficult. But does that require a newsflash from the Surgeon General? Is parenting today more difficult than, say, parenting in the Great Depression? Or during the Second World War, when so many of the men were gone? Obviously, there are new challenges. Social media, technology, things like that. But there's also a lot of things available today. A lot of that baby gear that is so expensive wasn't available back then. And yet parents were still concerned about the health and safety of their children. And true, there are new stressors for parenting, but how much of the stress is really created from departing from God's guidance for parenting? A couple of the questions that were asked, and these are really where we want to go this evening, and I'm going to lay the biblical foundation and then hopefully answer them toward the end. But how do couples prevent child-centered marriages? And what happens to a child-centered marriage when the children leave the home? Well, I think a lot of what the Surgeon General was expressing as the stressors come from the philosophy of child-centeredness. And what is God's plan? I've had you turn to Colossians 3. If you have your Bibles open there, follow with me. I'm going to begin reading in verse 12, and then read down to verse 21. Colossians 3.12, Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things, put on love. which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you also were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching, and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. And fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged." In these verses, we find really the applications of this. The first thing I want us to see, though, is that the instruction for the Christian home begins in the context of instruction to the church. What we find in these opening verses, and why I began where I did, and really, if we were to go back further in this letter, we would see this. But there's instruction in this context. This is important because family life is the workshop for practical theology. It's the outworking of what we believe concerning God's Word. In fact, Paul Tripp, in a video really promoting a book that he had written on marriage, said this, Marriage sits in the middle of the world's most important incomplete process, sanctification. My goal for marriage is that it would be comfortable. God's goal for marriage is that it would be transformational. And what he is saying is that God is using marriage in the process of our sanctification. And while we want things easy, God wants to make us holy. And this is why we need grace. So the quote I gave last week, grace is the teacher turned coach that insists that we run toward God. This is David Harvey in the book, When Sinners Say, I Do. That our faith really has to be played out in the home. You know, if our faith doesn't work at home, it doesn't work. We have to understand that the Christian marriage is different than others, not that we aren't sinners. Every marriage is two sinners living in close proximity. But we have the Holy Spirit, we can solve our problems biblically. So in a Christian marriage, sinners can seek to solve problems biblically in the power of the Holy Spirit and for the glory of God and the advertisement of Christ's relationship with His church. And so we need to make it work at home. We need to also understand that this is where our faith is being played out. But secondly, we have to make ourselves and our families part of Christ's family. So, individually and corporately, as a family, that if you're single, well, be part of a bigger family. Christ Church. And I mentioned last week, and I slid it in because I think it's important when we're talking about matrimony, and we have a lot of young people that are single with us, but to understand that God's purpose, there's a biblical focus on singleness, that mature manhood and womanhood is not dependent on being married. And we have to recognize that marriage is not the final destination of any human. Jesus said there's not giving in marriage in heaven. And so there's not marrying or giving in marriage. Thirdly, I mentioned that Jesus was never married and He was fully human. He was total God, total man. And so we have to recognize that. The Bible celebrates singleness as a gift from God for service. So there is a place for that. And recognizing the importance of this. And then finally, understanding that God is sovereign over who gets married. And we can trust Him. And that those who are single can trust the Lord, that He will provide and meet their needs. Those who are married also have to trust the Lord. And my caution for us as a church is that we don't put an undue pressure or be the source of frustration or discouragement for our single individuals. As I mentioned, it's different being single at 18 or at 28 or 38 or 50. And so, though we were single, all of us were single at some point, we may not understand. And you don't want to be used of Satan to feed insecurity or discontent with God's plan. And I just think as we talk, we've had a major emphasis on this, this is an important aspect as well. But understanding that we can get our families involved in something bigger. So as Pastor Malone mentioned last week, get our family involved in ministry. that our family needs to be part of something bigger. Because if we say we have a high view of Christ, but we have a low view of His bride, the church, we're going to struggle with having the right view of Christ. And what we say is going to struggle because this goes back to the practical theology. That we need to be committed to Christ's body, to His bride, because it does have an impact on our marriage and our parenting. that we need a church family to help in these areas. So recognizing that this instruction for the family begins with the right understanding of the church and the instruction to the church. Secondly, your family must be under the control of God's Word. And we see that in these verses as well. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. Again, we're in the context of the local church, but then we ought to be taking that into our families. And we see that. We're admonishing one another. We're teaching and admonishing with songs, hymns, spiritual songs. There is a spiritual emphasis from the Word of God. Let me have you turn with me to Deuteronomy 6. And what I wanted to do is give you a couple of key passages. on this topic as we're kind of bullet pointing through it and wrapping up the series on marriage and doing the parenting. But I want you to have the bullet points that you can consider and go back to. In Deuteronomy 6, this is a very familiar passage. It's a key passage, the greatest commandment, the giving of this. But in verse 4 it says, Here, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 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 that it shall be when the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things which you did not fill, queuing out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and when you have eaten and are full, then beware lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt in the house of bondage." It's giving instruction for when they would enter the promised land. Now, do you think Israel might have been worried? How are we going to get houses? How are we going to get food? God said, I'll provide. It didn't take a Surgeon General to issue a decree. But understanding, there are several points that we can see here. Number one, recognize God as supreme. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. Our theme for this year for our church is Jesus over everything. It's a wonderful statement, but it needs to be more than just a slogan. It needs to be our philosophy of life, our theology at home. Secondly, resolve to love and obey God completely. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength, as it's stated in the New Testament. This is the command. And it has to begin with us because values are caught more than they are taught. It's one thing to say God is supreme. It's one thing to say Jesus is over everything. But do our actions, our choices, our values really display that? Do they reflect the truth and that that is true to us? Well, that's what it's telling us. Number three, use life as a classroom. Teach them diligently when you walk by the way, when you talk of them, when you sit in your houses, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. During the structured times and the unstructured times. So one of the discussions in our panel last week was of having family devotions. Well, that would be a structured time. But that's not the only time we teach. Often the teaching is in those unstructured times. Those questions that are asked. Those opportunities to shape worldview. And recognizing this. That when we sit and teach and we walk and witness. But we're looking for teachable moments. As parents and as grandparents. That we provide practical reminders of God's Word. That that's a priority in our home. The binding them as a sign on your hand. And if you go to Israel, you go to the Wailing Wall, you see people, men with the books, it's on their hands, on their forehead. They're taking this very literally. But what we're seeing is the statement there is we ought to have it as a focal point. For our hands, a biblical work ethic. That we're teaching our children a biblical perspective on labor. That they would learn how to work. What does the Bible say about that? Do we really want our culture being the one that's teaching that? I picked up a book a while back, it was titled, Teach Them to Work, by Mary Beakey, the wife of Joel Beakey, a pastor, author. And trying to give a biblical framework for this. That we want them to, and so bind them on your hand. Between your eyes, we want them to have a biblical worldview. We want them to see things through a biblical lens. So that needs to be a reminder. Make it practical in our homes. We have verses in our homes. We had it growing up. I still remember a picture when I was growing up that hung in our upstairs hallway. It was by Warner Solomon. I didn't know that at the time. But I remember that picture. There was this sailor, a muscular young sailor with his hands on the ship's wheel and Jesus behind him with one hand on his shoulder and the other pointing ahead. I don't know how many times I walked by that picture as a child, but I remember it. And there were times I did look at it. A lot of times I didn't pay any attention, but it did make an impression. Well, are we providing reminders in our homes to help develop that biblical outlook on life? And then reflect on God's provision. As he's telling them, when we come into the land, when you come into the land, you're going to be in cities that you didn't build. You're going to be in homes that are furnished that you did not do. And you can trust the Lord. You know, a lot of the anxiety, well, our kids get that middle class life as the Surgeon General or New York Times was concerned. Is that really a biblical worldview? But it's removing God from the picture. Can we trust God to meet our needs? and recognizing that. And then warn against evil. Beware lest you forget. Because disobedience has consequences. And the caution here in Deuteronomy is actually to the adults first. And so it really brings us to that aspect that we need to keep a Christ-centered focus. That we would have that focus for our lives. And then understanding, taking us back then to Colossians 3, that when we recognize that the instruction for the Christian home begins with the instruction to the church, that we need to be controlled by God's Word, then we need to fulfill our family roles to please God. If you'll go back to Colossians 3, notice it begins with, "...wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting to the Lord." And this is where we see the practical theology. Because it needs to be in our home. You know, the home is where we kind of let down. This is where we're ourselves. You know, you and I can put on our church face when we're out in public. We can have a facade. We can behave a certain way. We see each other here and we have wonderful fellowship. But that's not necessarily how we are at home. Now, there ought to be a consistency, but unfortunately, it's not always the case. I just heard recently A couple that is breaking up. A family. The couple is going to divorce. And one of the comments that was made to me was that even though he was in leadership at times, that he was not the same person at home. Well, that's going to do damage. And so we need to understand that the basic points here for all of us, that we are to obey God. That if I am a poor husband, it's not just that I'm failing as a husband, I'm failing as a Christian. Because the responsibility is given to me in God's Word of what I'm to do as a husband. And so we see the very basic points. And you know, as we read about the Christian home in these verses, it's bullet-pointed. Like, well, could we have more? You know, wives submit to your own husbands as is fitting to the Lord. But what about? And don't we have a list of questions? Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. But what about? Children, obey your parents in all things. This is well-pleasing to the Lord. And we know from Ephesians, husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. Each of these is in reflection of how do I please God? So rather than simply focus on, well, how do I avoid a child-centered marriage or family? The real focus has to be how do I have a marriage or family that is Christ-centered? Children are to obey their parents. Tune in your voices to your parents. We need to, as parents, be teaching. We understand our kids are cute, but they're corrupt. They're lovely, but lost. Delightful, but depraved. We have to share the gospel with them. But also understand there's more grace in Jesus than there is sin in their little hearts, or our big hearts. Because where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. And so there's hope. And children are to obey. But then we read, fathers, do not provoke your children lest they be discouraged, that they lose heart, that they give up. And so we've got a lot of very Limited statements, but if we would apply them, we unpack those. Let me just give a couple of practical things. One, just some parenting perspectives, presuppositions. And when we've done parenting classes, we go through this. I'm just kind of giving you bullet points this evening. But parenting is hard work. I mean, it is an effort. I was joking with one of our young parents. They said, man, I'm just really tired. I said, it's okay. Once they turn 18, you'll be able to rest again. But not yet. There's work. But the truth is, even when they get older, then we have different burdens and cares. And even when we've taught, they don't always listen. God entrusts us with children. We're dealing with eternal souls. And so both Us as parents and our children need Jesus. And we want to raise them for God's glory. We have to be confident in the power of the gospel. None of us parent perfectly. And there are those feelings of inadequacy. And sometimes we seek to be faithful, and we are faithful, and our kids don't listen. Children turn away from it. And it's like, well, where did I go wrong? Well, we have to realize they have to choose as well. That is, it's not all on the parents. In fact, if we dig into that too far, we almost get into a moralism or pragmatism. That if I had done things differently than the result, well, they have to respond to the gospel too. And even if they don't listen, we can pray. Now, if there are areas where we say, you know, I was wrong, then we need the grace to ask forgiveness. But we have to be confident in the power of the gospel. that we can pray and then be God-centered in our home and not child-centered. We keep eternity in view. We pray for our children. We pray with our children. And if they stray, we still pray. We have confidence in the power of God and that God's Word will not return void. That's why I really appreciate our Awana program and our kids' learning verses. Because those are verses that the Holy Spirit can bring back to mind. And sometimes parents say, well, my child has rejected it. It's like, you don't know how God's going to use that, how the Holy Spirit's going to bring that to mind when they're lying awake at night and can't sleep. And they're probably not going to tell you at that time. But we can trust God to work. And we have to have confidence in the power of God and in the beauty of the gospel of Christ. And I do believe that the beauty of the Lord can overcome the temporary pleasures of this world. But we have to point our children to those beauties of what God is doing. We want them to see the joy of obeying God. So we have to give them a biblical understanding of purity. That God wants them to be pure. To refrain from sexual intimacy until marriage. That God is protecting something beautiful. He's not prohibiting something delightful. But our world's going to tell them otherwise. One of the questions was, well, how do we deal with the immorality in our world? Well, if it's unsaved people, I don't expect unsaved people to live like Christians. And frankly, they're trying to make life work without Christ. So the first thing they need is the gospel. But for Christians, we need to have a high view of holiness, of purity, and seek to have Christ-centered homes, not child-centered homes. Now, the admonition in verse 21 here is that fathers not provoke their children. And I want to just quickly go through a list of a number of ways, and there could be more that this can happen, but we have to be careful. Favoritism. There are examples of this in Scripture, and it does not go well. of Jacob and Esau, of Joseph. But we have to be careful as parents, you know, why can't you be like your brother? Why aren't you more like your sister? They don't cause us problems. Be careful. Because that's a way of provoking so they become discouraged. The over-protection. The lack of trust. There was actually an article a while back, it was titled, The Coddling of the American Mind. How good intentions and bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure. And they actually refer to it as the cult of safety-ism. We live in that day. It's no longer helicopter parents, it's not even lawnmower parents, it's bubble wrap parents. And yet, are we preparing our children? In an article that was dealing with this cult of safetyism, they asked a question about the magic cape experiment. They said, imagine if you could cover your child from when they were born until they were 18 years old with a magic cape. And it would protect them from all physical, emotional, and social pain until they were 18 years old. But when they turned 18 and they left for college or left the home, that cape was removed. Would you do it? If we think about it, we say no. Because they're not going to be prepared for the world. They're not going to be prepared for life. Well, are we preparing them? You know, we need to let them develop insights. Allow them to make mistakes. And not mock their decisions, but help guide them to develop a biblical wisdom. That we need to give our children roots and wings. They need stability and freedom. And yes, we have to be careful. But again, do we trust God? You know, He can watch over my kids better than I can. We prayed, Lord, we want our kids to go wherever you would have, go to a mission field, if that was God's will. That was easier to pray before we had grandkids. Wait a minute, you're taking my grandkids to the mission field? You know what? God can protect them better than we can. And so we need to be careful with the overprotection. Another one is overindulgence, spoiling children. Can our children handle hearing? No. If not, that's a problem. You know, there's the permissive parenting that is high in love, but it's low in discipline, and it gives kids whatever they want. It's like rules are for us, but not for them. Well, Proverbs 29, 15 says, The rod and rebuke give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings his mother to shame. That overindulgence is going to bring problems. Another one is inconsistency. You know, never knowing where the standards are. We used to tell our kids, no today means no tomorrow. Unless something changes that would modify the situation, you don't just have to ask again. Nothing changed. It's still no. We also taught them that no means don't ask again. So it really shut down on the asking and asking and wearing down. I have a cartoon that I use in our parenting class as a child. This girl walking out of the store with a doll, and she said, you know, I almost thought the last time you said no, you meant it. Well, she had just worn her mother down. That is wearing. Teach your children, and we would ask ours, what does no mean? Don't ask again. Okay. Be consistent. That we need to recognize that we need to be faithful to our Word. You know, if we're changing our mind, changing the rules, not keeping our word, that's going to bring a discouragement. If we say one thing and then we don't, and then we... No. Consistency. Because that's part of the character of God. That we need to be consistent. And recognizing one of the dangers of the inconsistency is the authoritarian parent, where the overindulgent is permissive, the authoritarian is the rules are for thee, but not for me. No, we need to hold ourselves to the same moral standards. And we need to be consistent of, fifth one is unrealistic expectations. You know, we need to allow for childishness. A three-year-old's gonna act like a three-year-old. Now, there's a difference between childishness and foolishness. A temper tantrum is still a, that's a hard issue. That's a foolishness issue. But you can't expect the same dexterity from a three-year-old as a 13-year-old. Well, maybe that's not the best illustration. We have to be understanding. We need to recognize the unrealistic expectations pushing for achievement that is beyond their ability. When I was a youth pastor, actually, I had a message I would use with our young people. It's like when your parents have higher expectations for you than God does. Because God only expects your best. Sometimes parents expected more than their best. They expected A's from somebody who didn't have an A brain. Like, just do your best. and teaching for that, pushing for in these areas that we need to be careful that failure to respect that these are children made in the image of God. We need to praise them when they're doing well and for character issues. I've heard sometimes people say, well, I'm very careful with my praise because I want it to mean something. Well, then have that same attitude with your criticism. Because often those people are very free with their criticism. We need to be an encouragement to them. We need to be willing to show that respect, to give approval, to be the cheerleaders in their lives. Another one is neglect, where they view themselves as a nuisance, when we're unwilling to sacrifice time, agenda, our plans for them. Recognizing these areas, these provoke children to lose heart. Abusive behavior, physical abuse, and we all know of stories that are horrible in this. But also abusive words. The emotional abuse. Well, if you do that, mommy won't love you. How is that showing the love of Christ? That unconditional, that He loves us, we're accepted in the Beloved. But the emotional abuse, verbal abuse, some people who are very careful, they would never do something physical and all abuse is wrong. But their words are cutting. Adults are much more adept at verbal weaponry than children. We need to use our words wisely. There are words that give life and words that destroy. Another one is parental discord. It creates discouragement when the two people that mean the most to a child are at odds with each other. And the problems when families break up, and we see that, and again, we know because of sin these things happen. But we need to be very careful that we don't put our kids in the middle of those situations. You know, if there's a disagreement, discuss it privately. And present a unified front. And then failure to correct. Proverbs 22.15 says, foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child. The rod of correction will drive it far from him. You know, there is an aspect of childishness or of foolishness that words alone aren't going to remove. According to Proverbs 22.15. So we need to have the proper perspective. And we need to recognize the danger then of child-centered parenting. That if the children are at the center of the home, that's going to create problems. How does that happen? Well, it's often the desire to please the children. We want to prepare them for the world. We want them to be successful, so we want the best education. We want them to have a good job. We want them to have a good marriage. We want them to know the right people. How do those goals different from our unsafe neighbor's goals for their kids? I mean, we need to think differently. There's a fine line between parental love and child worship. And we have to be careful because we cross that line when we compromise God's will for the sake of our children or their activities. Well, this will better position them for the future. And if we're failing to meet God's will, then we've actually crossed the line into child worship. And that's a dangerous place. You know, the characteristics then, we've got to get God at the center of our home. and ask how do we honor Him? How do we please Him? So let me conclude by just giving some characteristics of a God-centered home. How do we avoid that child-centered home? Well, we have to have a biblical authority structure within the home. Dads, we need to take the spiritual leadership. Moms, to support. That we would seek to have the right structure. As I mentioned, mom and dad present a unified front before the children. That if there's areas of discussion, okay, do that privately. They shouldn't be fighting in front of the kids. That's not only going to cause them to lose heart, it's going to change the focus because that's not really presenting a God-centered family. We need to have the right focus in this area. We have to seek to please God rather than our children. We have to be willing to say no when it's in their best interest. And part of that is learning to be able to sacrifice. That we're not going to let them determine everything. Our kids learned young that if you don't eat it for supper, you're going to get it for breakfast. Because we've prayed and thanked God for the food that He's provided, why would we let them gripe about it? Because if God's at the center, we're going to act in a way that we're pleased. That we want to be careful. Now, I would say we have to be careful not to simply say no because it's easy. Sometimes no takes a lot less thought than yes does. Because if I say yes, I have to think of the ramifications. But again, we're seeking to direct hearts. So we have to think in that way. We have to make our marriage more important than our children. This takes us back to the very beginning of our matrimony matters. For this cause shall a man leave father and mother and cleave to his wife." That God's plan, God's purpose is the marriage be permanent. One man, one woman for one lifetime. The cleaving that takes place. That means children are going to leave, so we need to prepare them for that. We need to be developing that, that we're teaching them to think biblically. But we also have to let them go, and we've had that discussion. But that's a temporary relationship. Now there's still a permanent aspect, but it changes. They have their own home. And so we have to prepare them for that. That the parent-child relationship is temporary, the husband-wife relationship is permanent. And so don't put your children in the place of God. He's to be at the center of the marriage. Because if the children end up there, God's not going to bless His competition. And we don't want that to happen because we do love our children. But if we cross from child love to child worship, now we've set up an idol that God is not going to bless. And then we have to be willing to be different. Because what I'm saying is actually against our culture. The Surgeon General was trying to help people deal with the pressure that comes from child-centered parenting. And frankly, what I'm saying is counter-cultural in many Christian circles today, unfortunately. But the question is, is it biblical? What we have to do is say, what does the Bible say? And understanding that the goal in all of this is to please the Lord. I would say to answer the second half of that question, What happens to the marriage when the children leave? Well, sometimes there's no glue to hold the marriage together. The glue was the children. And so we saw, and we've seen this more in the past, not as much anymore, but there was an increase in divorce after kids left the home. It's like, how is it that this couple that's been married for so many years is all of a sudden getting a divorce? Because the glue was focused on the children. Now the children are gone. The glue ought to be that we're focused on Christ. Because if you look back at verse 17, that's what it says. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. That we want Him to be glorified. So what wives are to do is to be fitting, appropriate as those who belong to the Lord. And children are to obey their parents, for this is pleasing to the Lord. And husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. And that in all of this, our focus is on pleasing the Lord. If you'll look at verse 23, it says, And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ. Now this is coming off of the admonition to bond servants, to those who are working, but I think the principle applies because what we're finding through all of this is that we're seeking to give Christ preeminence. And that's Colossians 1.18, that in all things He might come to have first place. So that we can protect against the child-centeredness, and we can protect our marriages by keeping this focus that He would have first place. So I trust that we can take this, and I've given you some things, you can go back and look at these passages, but let's pray for our families. Pray for our marriages, pray for our children. Because we are in a spiritual battle. So we have to, as we sang at the beginning, be putting on that whole armor of God that we will stand and that we will honor the Lord. Let's pray together.