Is Your Home an Attractive Place To Be? pt.4

I have been considering what makes a home attractive. Last week I asked what you would consider the "aroma" of your home. Kendal pointed out this verse: Ephesians 5:2, “And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”

She made some insightful points; which I would encourage you to look at.

I want my home to be gospel-centered and have been reflecting on the disciplines, or traditions that we have done and are looking to do in order to cultivate in our home, a heart for God.

I said that I would share with you some of the things in our home that help us cultivate that heart. I want to remind you that these are matters of the heart, but the heart takes actions and disciplines or traditions though they can be done apart from heart-change and love, do help in cultivating heart-focus.

I think of thankfulness as one of those disciplines. I believe thankfulness is a result of what God has done for us. So a gospel-centered home would be known as a thankful home.

Eph. 2 should send our hearts soaring with praise and thankfulness.

¹And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

²in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

³Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath,even as the rest.

⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

⁵even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

⁶and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

⁷so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

⁹not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

¹⁰For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

But my heart can grow cold if the gospel of Jesus Christ is not continually on my mind. Therefore, my family sets to work on cultivating a thankful heart.

One way we do this is by making sure we think about, read about, and tell each other the gospel. We remind each other and ourselves of the benefits of belonging to Jesus.

When we pray as a family at bedtime or during worship; my husband asks each child what he or she would like to thank God for. Now, for times sake we limit them to thanking God for 3 things. It is such a blessing as you hear words of praise coming from their young mouths and I have often felt the sting of conviction for an ungrateful/unthankful heart as I hear how thankful my kids are for things I take for granted. We take thankfulness so seriously in our home because we know that our own hearts are prone to discontentment and a sense of entitlement. And, frankly, unthankful, entitled, discontent people are hard to be around! A home that is not filled with thankfulness is NOT attractive!

An unthankful heart can turn a home sour quickly. The "aroma" of the home can get pretty stinky when whining, complaining and selfish desires reign. And that is exactly what you get when you do not believe you have much to be grateful and thankful for.

A few years ago my mom-in-law bought us a "Blessing Jar", it is just a jar that we can use to write down how God has blessed us and keep those things in it to look at later. At first we used it a lot and I have found much benefit in going back and looking at what God was doing in our lives several years ago and my heart soars with thanksgiving for His faithfulness!

This jar still sits on a shelf in my home, but we haven't used it in a long time. I am determined to use it this year and at the end of every week take out the little pieces of paper and reflect on God's faithfulness to us that week. I believe it will be a good tool to help cultivate a content, grateful and thankful heart .

I leave you with some Psalms to think about. The Psalms have been extremely beneficially to me as I meditate on exactly what I should be thankful for!


Psalm 138:1-5: I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing praises to You before the gods.
I will bow down toward Your holy temple
And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.
On the day I called, You answered me;
You made me bold with strength in my soul.
All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O LORD,
When they have heard the words of Your mouth.
And they will sing of the ways of the LORD,
For great is the glory of the LORD.

Psalm 136:1-4: Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
To Him who alone does great wonders,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;


^{Psalm 100: 4-5} Enter His gates with thanksgiving
And His courts with praise
Give thanks to Him,bless His name.
For the LORD is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations.

May my home be filled with the sweet aroma and beauty of a thankful heart. A thankful home is a place people want to be!