How's My Walk In My Home?

"I will walk in my house with a blameless heart.” Psalm 101:2 (NIV)

Living a life of godly integrity happens within the walls of our own homes first. That’s really where we are authenticated. For me, what God sees and knows of me in my home with my husband and children is most important to me, rather than how others may perceive me elsewhere. If I am living a life surrendered to Him as a wife and mom inside my home with my husband and children, that life will flow naturally and freely everywhere else. It will be genuine and self-evident.

God sees and meets me when I spend quiet time with Him each morning. He knows the days when the attitude of my heart needs to soften. God sees me when I love and serve my husband with respect and joy. God also knows when I don't. God sees me when I handle His Word with tenderness and invest it into my children’s hearts. He also sees me when I fail miserably in these areas and fall to my knees for forgiveness as my heart aches with the godly sorrow that leads to repentance and thus brings forth His life. He sees and knows the real me. I want that pursuit of authenticity that leads to holiness...starting in my own home.

If my husband sees and knows that I am seeking God daily and abiding in Him continually, then my heart is at rest knowing he has confidence in me. He knows I desire an authentic life before our God and in our home. My husband’s confidence in me because I love and revere the Lord is priceless. “Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.” Proverbs 31:11 (NIV)

I want to be the crown on my husband's head and the jewel around his neck, and that must happen in our home first with pure authenticity. It does not happen in social settings with shallow facades. A wise woman who wants to honor the Lord seeks to have a heart of integrity in her home. “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” Proverbs 14:1 (NIV) The destructive hands of pride and selfishness will tear apart the beautiful gift of marriage with which God has entrusted me. I so earnestly and passionately want to be the wise woman building up my husband, home and family.

Walking with a blameless heart is a standard set by God. Blameless does not mean sinless. The NIV study note clarifies that blameless means “spiritual and moral integrity”. The word "blameless" in Psalm 101:2 means "integrity, completeness, simplicity". By His grace, I want to live a life and enjoy a marriage marked by my yielding to the Holy Spirit. When we really blow it, our godly integrity, born out of a vibrant relationship with Him, brings us back to a humble heart before the Lord. When we do fail as a spouse or otherwise, God will see our true remorse, repentance and desire to be right with Him and with our spouse. Only by His grace can this be so.

We need to depend completely on Him for our godly integrity. “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3 (NIV) As we begin the new year of 2010, may He give us the grace, strength and desire to honor Him in our marriages and our own homes first.

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." 1 John 4:16

"The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly..." 1 Timothy 1:14

For the One who covers me in grace,