Family: The word means so much and so many different things to each of us. We have the family into which we were physically born, sometimes with father, mother, and siblings together and sometimes not. We have the family or families with whom which we grew as children and the family or families we built as adults. We may or may not have children, grandchildren, parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, nieces, nephews, and in-laws at all levels, but most have a family of some sort.
The biblical ideal includes one man married to one woman blessed with the descendants that God gives them. It is a family that seeks to honor and obey Him, to work diligently, to care for others, and to be good contributors to their church and society. However, this ideal is rarely maintained for many decades. Sin, sickness, death, disappointments, and separations get in the way. Rearrangements, breaks, and new additions all bring changes.
Additionally, our families often bring us our greatest joys, blessings, trials, and heartbreaks. They influence our existence, decisions, plans, direction, desires, and more. Family contributes to the very core of our being. Often, at least part of that family is our motivation to get up in the morning, to keep going, or to try again. Sometimes, it is part of that family that prompts us to think about ending it all. Yet, for each of us, God has allowed us to be part of the family or families we are in.
So, how should we treat our family? How do we handle the ins and outs and ups and downs that come with family? The answers are in prayer and in God’s Word. It is God who formed each of us in His image and who sent His own Son to die on the cross for our sins and to rise again victoriously. He forgives us of our sin and makes us part of His family if we repent and accept Jesus’s sacrifice for us. God has purpose for each of us as individuals and as members of our family. In His Word, He teaches us to be loving, forgiving, patient, long-suffering, kind, repentant, understanding, encouraging, and so much more. God encourages us to walk together in Him and to pick each other up when we fall.
May we each learn to have the love (charity) described in I Corinthians 13 and to put away the bitterness and wrath while putting on the kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness described in Ephesians 4:31-32 in our relationships with our families. Prayerfully submitted, from my heart to yours – MostlyMerriMerrily