The Head of the House By Lori Harris Printed in Practical Homeschooling #18, 1997. Lori discusses the principle of sovereignty. Tweet

Growing up in the Bible Belt had both plusses and minuses. On the one hand, I was well versed in scripture at a young age. On the other, the Word was rarely applied to the everyday situations of life. How can that happen time after time in Christian homes? I certainly don't think I was the exception but rather the norm, and a barometer on the state of the home, church, and the nation. As I reflect on what my parents did that was right, I try to see where I might make improvements and have my children think more governmentally in every area of life.

One of the first areas that should be established in the home is the place of the father. Father should be more than a figurehead in the home. As we travel around the country and stay with families of every sort, we have seen men who have established their own little spheres of tyranny. Even the children can pick up on the unrighteousness of this type of home. We have also been blessed to be in homes where fathers have shown us the love of God and the spirit of servant leadership.

Father is the head of the home under God. When that fact is established, homes are capable of running in peace. As a former card-carrying National Organization of Women feminist, it is very tempting to take this area and run with it. I know what I am capable of and I know what God requires. Many times I must quench my natural choice to call the shot and defer to my husband. Many times he would rather that I made the decision, but I have seen that everyone in the home is happier if I act appropriately in this area of submission.

Everything we do must have this definition brought forth and applied to the individual. As we learn to establish the individual and his home as the first sphere of civil government under God, our nation will be able to be restored as a Christian Republic. Reformation starts in the heart of the individual. As parents, we are instructed to "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). Often those few words are only used in reference to a religious education, but God commands us to take dominion over all the earth.

In the home, one of the first principles to be established is the Principle of Sovereignty and an understanding of the Providence of God. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us. (Isaiah 33:22). This principle is the foundation of why we consider our country to have been established as a Christian nation. It is the opposite of globalism and autocracy.

One way that these values are caught and not just taught is to give children the example of the family altar on a daily basis. Daily our children join with us as we seat God on His Throne. We begin by reciting our battery of scriptures from memory. These scriptures have been selected by our family to establish God's law in our hearts on a daily basis. We add a chapter of Proverbs based on the day of the month and then add other passages to study as a family as the Lord leads us. After our scriptures, we spend time in praise and worship and then family prayer on our knees. I believe that when our children are adults, a memory of Dad and Mom on their knees leading them in prayer will be forever etched in their minds.

That is the most important aspect of family government that we desire for each one of them to carry to their own homes. We try to instill in our family government a particular order to the day and in the way that we choose to conduct ourselves.

We don't need more curricula! Instead, we need to get back to the authority of the Word and learn to understand what it has to say. Government by any authority other than the laws of God is not godly government. If miracles were the norm, then the law would be the exception. When we see our nation failing, we have to see our families, our Christian families, failing first. Change must first start in the heart of the individual. Stay on your knees, study together and lead one step at a time. Be ready, though. When a family decides to live by principles, the devil has a field day setting traps of failure for you all along the way. It helps to know he is the loser and we are the winners.