The book of Proverbs can often be difficult to follow, because it seems to have been written mostly in sound bites. Rarely does a thought go from one verse to another. But Proverbs has probably the richest concentration of the principles of cause and effect in all of Scripture. Together, its verses comprise a huge list of do's and don'ts. Fortunately, proverbs are Iikelihoods, not irrevocable promises. Nevertheless, the basic concept is that if you want a certain effect to happen, you should do such-and-such. And if you don't want some other effect to happen, then you should avoid doing such-and-such. Life is certainly about relationships, and relationships are built up or broken down by do's and don'ts—the causes that inevitably result in effects.

In the contemporary culture, powerful forces exist whose effects are to greatly weaken, if not destroy, the home as we have known it. If we desire to establish a Christian home, we must be proactive and make intentional, well-informed decisions as to what we will include and what we will exclude from home life.

My wife and I live in Central Florida. During the summer months, we often have torrential rains in the afternoon. Usually they come and go quickly, but sometimes several inches of rain may fall in these showers. If the roof has a leak, in time the rain will find it—even if it's just a hairline crack. A small leak may not at first affect what lies beneath it, but it will eventually cause the roof sheeting to deteriorate. It may go unnoticed for several years, but when the homeowners finally discover it, they may have to repair a lot of damage.

Like a roof, our marriages can have a small leak or flaw that we don't detect until something begins to deteriorate. The problem is that we can repair rotten roof sheeting more easily than we can repair a rotten marriage.

There was a time when a family could survive despite bad relationships. The culture, the church, and even the extended family could help hold things together. Those days seem to have passed. Moreover, it used to be that church people didn't seem to have the same kinds of problems as the unchurched. This, too, has changed. Increasingly, we're allowing the forces of contemporary culture to shape not only our worldview but also our way of life. Christian homes are now, as it were, taking direct hits, and unless we take steps to protect our marriage, we can easily become just another statistic. Whether by neglect or intentionally, we are in many instances employing causes that can have only one effect—the breakdown of the family as God meant for it to be. Could it be that we are collectively and as individuals flirting with insanity—doing the same things but expecting different results?

In times past, there was a sense of urgency to life, a raison d'etre. But life has become casual and haphazard. Someone has suggested that perhaps the trouble is that families are no longer preparing for the coming of Jesus.

Tragically, the verses in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 describe what is happening in many Christian families now:

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, hut denying the power thereof.”

This condition is not a result of chance or bad luck. Nothing in this world happens by chance. We pack our own lunch. Could the condition of many Christian families be due to the fact that they no longer consider relevant the command, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15)?  Lord, Save my Family, pp. 18-19.