Daily Devotional

I played a lot of board games growing up. It’s still one of my favorite pastimes. For some games, we developed “house rules,” rules we added to the game to make it more engaging, or to create obstacles for too-easy paths to victory. A classic example is the Free Parking space in Monopoly. Hasbro’s rules are explicit that nothing happens when you land on this space, but we treated the space as a sort of lottery jackpot. Landing on it caused much rejoicing.

In the Tremaine household, however, “house rules” have another, more important meaning. Hanging in our home and in my office is a framed piece of paper titled “Tremaine House Rules.” It outlines 22 principles that we strive to embody in our family. My wife Lauren and I created these principles as part of our pre-marital counseling. I’ve copied them below, along with the verses that appear next to them:

We put God first (Matthew 6:33).
We love God (Deuteronomy 6:5).
We love others (1 John 4:7)
We delight in God’s Word (Psalm 1:2).
We pray about everything (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
We live on mission (Matthew 28:19–20).
We obey our authorities (Romans 13:1).
We speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).
We use words that build up (Ephesians 4:29).
We forgive freely (Ephesians 4:32).
We work and play heartily (Colossians 3:23).
We embrace responsibility (Luke 12:48).
We persevere when things are tough (James 1:12).
We pursue wisdom (Proverbs 1:7-9).
We dwell on God-honoring things (Philippians 4:8).
We give generously (2 Corinthians 9:7).
We serve joyfully (Romans 12:11).
We steward what God has given us (1 Peter 4:10).
We care for our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19).
We treasure our family (Deuteronomy 6:7).
We laugh a lot (Proverbs 17:22).
We do all things for God’s glory. (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Do we follow these principles perfectly? Certainly not; our family is made up of sinners, like every other family. Then why do we have them? These rules provide a set of standards for analyzing our family’s spiritual health. They also provide us with reasons for why we do what we do. When our daughter Lottie asks someday why she has to eat our vegetables, we can tell her that “we care for our bodies.” “Why do I have to do chores?” Because we embrace responsibility. “Why do I have to learn math?” Because we pursue wisdom. “Why can’t I watch that movie?” Because we dwell on God-honoring things. “Why do I have to listen to you?” Because we obey our authorities. “Why do you talk so much about God?” Because Mommy and Daddy love God, and we want you to love him, too.

If you don’t have a list of “house rules” like this, either for your family or for yourself, I’d encourage you to take some time to create one. You won’t regret it.

Interested in following along with a past 40 Days for Life devotional?

For more information, visit campusbiblechurch.com/40days

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