Of course the application here for us goes beyond this practical matter, which also is part of the law of God. The application is that godliness begins at home. See the beautiful way the apostle puts it. ‘Let them learn first to shew piety at home’, and he has a little more to say about this later on. We can learn a principle from this. The apostle means what he says here: sanctification begins at home; godliness begins at home. We fail first, all of us, at home, and unworthy passions are most likely to arise where the spirit is most unguarded at home. It is easier to be sanctified when you are away from home. You can almost play at godliness. You leave home, you go to the university, you are a student; you have got to be on your guard. You go home and in unguarded moments you may find yourself behaving in a worse way than when you are away. Piety begins at home. Martin Luther, the first ex-monk to marry an ex-nun said marriage was the school for character. Alas, so often we may be at our worst, and we've got to guard our tongues and watch our hearts and keep a guard over ourselves most of all in the home circle. The apostle in effect says, I won't have you living merely as good Christians, as good upright people in the church. I want to know how things are going at home. What is the standard of godliness? What is the conversation at home? What is the atmosphere? What is the tone? And here is the exhortation to every single one of us, not just those who perhaps ought to be looking after their parents or grandparents. ‘Let us learn first to show piety at home’, is a motto text by itself.