Families That Succeed

Families That Succeed (by Justin Vance of Calvary Baptist Church)

Is it just me or does it seem like the world has lost touch with the word “wisdom”? It just seems like knowledge is everywhere, but wisdom is lacking in society. One easy example of what I’m talking about is how we treat the family element today. We have knowledge - actual verifiable data - that shows that the family is best set up as God outlined it in Genesis.

Marriage should be exclusively between a man and a woman. Children should be raised and brought up with both parents involved. We know that having both mom and dad in the home together is the number one metric that can, almost without fail, determine if your child will grow up to be successful.

God knew what He was doing when he set up the family, and yet today we ignore that knowledge and unwisely attempt to redefine it. What is interesting is the divorce rate in the United States is, in fact, slowly dropping. Not because people are staying together but because less and less people are getting married. We have taken knowledge that God, in His grace, has chosen to reveal to us and we completely go the other direction.

Daniel 12 speaks to the fact that knowledge will increase as we get into the last days, but wisdom is not mentioned. Wisdom can be defined as having experience, knowledge and good judgment. I like to define it simply as proper application of knowledge.

In the example of the family, we simply refuse to apply knowledge that the Bible reveals to us. I fear the problem is we don’t want to submit to God, even when it benefits us. When marriages fail, it is always because of sin - sin that can come from either one party or both.

Too many people today do not seek counsel on things like marriage and the family. The result is we have become knowledgeable people that severely lack wisdom. One of the greatest tools that we have available to us is discipleship. We should be teaching and discussing the Bible with others who are solid in the Word.

Proverbs 1:5

"A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels."