Chapter 10
Christians who live their priorities in a
way which honors God, experience peace
and satisfaction. They understand their
first priority is to work on their
relationship with God. By placing Him
first, they find their other priorities fall into
place. In John 14:1, 23, 27, Christ lets the
disciples know what their priorities should
be and imparts comfort and the promise
of peace: “Do not let your hearts be
troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me...
Jesus replied,“If anyone loves me, he willobey my teaching. My Father will love
him, and we will come to him and make
our home with him...Peace I leave with
you; my peace I give you. I do not give to
you as the world gives. Do not let your
hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”.
While Christians are not promised a
problem-free life, they understand God
has their ultimate well-being in mind.
Living by his priorities means we will be
good stewards of the resources he has
given us.In this chapter, we have examined
ways families manage their resources of
time, energy, and money.
Time is a social construct which has
different meanings in different cultures.
In North America, time is monochronic,
structured, and sequential. This
understanding of time makes it difficult
for families to have flexible time
together. Parents today are working
more hours. Family time is often filled
with household chores and structured
children’s activities. Many parents react
to the stress of trying to do it all by
sacrificing their personal time and time
together as a couple. Children also
struggle with a time crunch. They spend
less time in unstructured play and at
family meals, but spend more timedoing homework and participating in
structured activities.
Time is closely linked to energy.
American families tend to be stressed,
overwhelmed, and tired. Role theory and
conservation theory can both be used to
examine the work-family interface. Work
is one of the leading causes of stress;
however, the way we perceive the conflict
between work and family can mitigate
the strain. For both men and women,
satisfying work can have positive benefits
for the family.
Of all the family’s resources, money
can be the most problematic. It also
causes the most family conflict—not so
much the lack of money, as how it is
spent. Families today often operate
under a heavy debt load. Family
members are called to be good stewardsSummary