Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother,
and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. Matthew 10:34-36
Seemingly harsh words. Your foes will be they of your own household.
Yes.
I’ve seen it happen. It has happened in my household.
Choosing life or death.
It causes division.
Jesus also said, He who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:37
I know a Christian family whose daughter chose the dark side.
They did not agree with her choice as an adult, she became suicidal and they let her stay in their home.
There were no restrictions, so she freely practices her witchcraft.
She still lives there after several years. I don’t think she’s going anywhere anytime soon.
The bible is clear about our not being unequally yoked with unbelievers,
whether they are our children or not, Jesus did not give a pass if they were our children.
What we allow to go on in our own house is our responsibility.
They seem to think it’s okay to allow this daughter who practices witchcraft to live in their house.
There are no scriptures that say it is okay to let a person practicing witchcraft into your home,
no matter who they are.
They chose their daughter rather than God’s word.
They invited evil into their abode.
That does not mean they could not have helped her, but by inviting her evil into their home,
they are going against what the bible teaches.
They are compromising God’s principles.
Taking Jesus at face value is tough sometimes.
There are many times you might wish He didn’t say something, but He did.
He said what He meant and He meant what He said.
In the Old Testament, the Lord commanded the kings not to marry strange wives,
that is, those who served idols because they would turn their hearts away from God.
That happened in Solomon’s case. If they had chosen to serve the Lord,
they would no longer be considered strange, but God would have welcomed them.
In Solomon’s case, he did not heed this commandment. He chose many strange wives.
And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them,
and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
Neither shalt thou make marriages with them;
thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
For they will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other gods:
so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images,
and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.
For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God:
the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself,
above all people that are upon the face of the earth. Deuteronomy 7:3-6
And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life:
that he may learn to fear the Lord his God,
to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: Deuteronomy 17:19
The commandments often boil down to the fear of the Lord.
If we are humble and fear the Lord, we will want to please Him, doing as many of His commandments
as we can and choosing His ways over our own.
When there is no fear of God, there is the lack of humility and justification rules our hearts.
Let the sword of God’s word divide where it lands.
His ways are higher than ours and humility is of utmost importance.
For us to justify our actions is a cop out so we can have our own way.
Do not resist the sword of the spirit.