In response to the lawyer’s question about which was the greatest commandment, Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:37-39, NIV).
Obviously, God cares about our relationships; otherwise, He would not have named loving others as the most important command besides loving Him. It’s no coincidence Jesus linked these two commands: Love for God cannot be manifested in any way other than love for others.
God created people as individuals with unique character traits that make them who they are. Yet, He created them also as social beings who enter into relationships with others. And nowhere is our relationship with others more important, more fraught with both temporal and eternal consequences, than in the family. Here so much of who we are, either for good or for ill, is determined.
Though living as a Christian at home is crucial, it can be challenging, even harder than in public, where it is easier to put on facades. At home, generally, the masks come off. It is a lot easier to fool others than to fool those with whom you share the same table, the same rooms, the same bed day after day, year after year. If you can be a Christian at home, you can be one anywhere.
Families fit into God’s design as centers in which individuals experience intimate association with others and are prepared for the greatest intimacy of all–a relationship with God. In the family both children and adults may have a warm experience that reflects the Creator and that encourages them in loving discipleship. On the other hand, because of pseudolove or indifference, people may leave their home with emotional and spiritual problems that are often difficult to erase. Just as our homes have the greatest potential to do the most good, they also can do the most harm.