CHRISTIAN ETHICS IN THE FAMILY

 

 

1.                  What we mean by “ethics”

a.                   The discipline dealing with what is good and bad

b.                  Moral duty and obligation

c.                   The principles of conduct governing an individual or a group

d.                  A guiding philosophy

 

2.                  Two significant qualifiers

a.                   In the family

b.                  Christian

 

3.                  To appreciate the necessity, add “un...”

 

4.                  Basic ethical principles in the Christian family

 

a.                   To practice in the home first the ethical principles that we consider important in the community or at work or anywhere else

 

b.                  To make all “the great and first commandment” the foundation of every word, action, or choice

 

c.                   To maintain fidelity and loyalty to the marriage vows

 

d.                  To “have this mind among yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus”

 

e.                   To fulfill the specific obligations the word of the Lord gives to each member of the family

 

5.                  The seed of scriptural ethics is the character of God himself.

 

a.                   “As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct...”

 

b.                  “God is faithful....Be faithful unto death...”

 

c.                   “God is love....Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and truth...”

 

6.                  The roots of specific ethical obligations are in the Ten Commandments.

 

a.                   Fifth:  “Honor your father and your mother”

 

b.                  Seventh:  “You shall not commit adultery”

 

c.                   Tenth:  “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife”

 

7.                  The branches are the specific ethical principles for family members set forth in the New Testament.

 

a.                   For husbands and wives

 

b.                  For husbands and fathers

 

c.                   For wives and mothers

 

d.                  For children, brothers and sisters

 

8.                  The reason for godly ethics in the family: “...for our good always, that he may preserve us alive...” (Deut. 6:24)

 

9.                  The question where ethics are concerned: “Do I have the heart for it?”