2. What is the purpose of the home?

The home is a primary setting for the restoration of the image of God in men and women. Father, mother, and children are to express themselves with love and harmony, meeting each other’s needs for acceptance, belonging, and intimacy. Here the principles of real Christianity can be lived out, demonstrating to the world that God’s love in the heart results in happiness and joy.JTL14 2.6

Of course, for everything beautiful God has created, Satan produces a counterfeit. Thus, many families demonstrate the unconverted thoughts of a selfish heart, resulting in quarreling, rebelliousness, jealousy, anger, and even violence and sexual exploitation. Yet these outbursts of selfishness were alien to God’s original plan. Jesus said, “From the beginning it was not so” (Matthew 19:8).JTL14 2.7

Parents are to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Even in homes where the peace of heaven does not reign supreme, God longs to restore peace and harmony through the new birth experience.JTL14 2.8