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All people are born and are innocent of a crime.

Criminal behaviors come as they grow up. As a police officer, I readily recognized on many occasions that many young criminals were not exposed to a home and family life that influenced who they were. Their parents or others responsible for their growth failed their children for various reasons.
Parents must be bold. For example, I recall being called to a home where the parents wanted me to take their 13 year old son to jail immediately. They were physically afraid of him.

I grew up with a favorite hymn on page 397 of the Baptist hymnal. It was and still is one of my favorites.

Its name is “God, Give Us Christian Homes.” Stanza one says that the Bible must be the foundation: “God, give us Christian homes! Homes where the

Bible is loved and taught, Homes where the Master’s will is sought, Homes crowned with beauty Thy love has wrought. God give us Christian homes!”

The Bible needs to be loved and taught in the home because it is God’s inspired message for all humankind (2 Timothy 3:16-17). When the Bible is the family’s foundation, the Master’s will is sought because the members will develop the attitude, “Not my will, but Thine be done.” (Luke 22:42). Such a home will be crowned with the beauty of God’s love because it will be built upon the Lord’s will. (Psalm 127:1).

Stanza two says that the father must be true and strong. “God, Give us Christian homes! Homes where the father is true and strong, Homes that are free from the blight of wrong, Homes that are joyous with love and song. God give us Christian homes!”

The husband and father must love his wife and children. (Colossians 3:19). He must take the lead in keeping the home free from wrong by commanding them to keep the ways of the Lord. (Genesis 18:19). He must also take the lead in promoting the joyousness of song and teaching them to love the Lord. (Deuteronomy 6:5-7).

Stanza three says that the mother must be queen and show that God’s will is best. “God give us Christian homes! Homes where the mother, in queenly quest, Strives to show others Thy way is best, Homes where the Lord is an honored guest. God, give us Christian homes!”

The wife and mother are the home’s queen because she guides or manages the household. (1 Timothy 5:14). She shows others that God’s way is best by submitting to her husband and doing what is proper for the family. (Colossians 3:18). When the mother truly loves her husband and children, the Lord will be an honored guest in that home because the word of God cannot be blasphemed. (Titus 2:4-5).

Stanza four says that the children must be taught to know the Lord. “God, give us Christian homes!

Homes, where the children are led to know Christ in His beauty Who loves them so, Homes where the altar fires, burn and glow. God Give us Christian homes!” Parents must train their children to love and obey first the parents and then God. (Colossians 3:2021). In this way, the children will be led to know the beauty and love of Christ. (Ephesians 5:1-2).

The alter fires figuratively represent the home’s emphasis on making God’s will the center of the home so that the parents’ faith is passed on to the children. (2 Timothy 1:3-5).

Stopping crime starts in the home. “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 ESV.

Faith columnist Keith Throckmorton, Fairfax County Police (Ret), can be reached at kandpthrock@gmail.com