Loving Our Family

God gave us family so that we would be able to partner with one another in doing the work that God has called us to do. Although the apostle Paul mentions some people who are uniquely called to live a life of singleness (1 Cor. 7), the majority of us are called to live within the structure of a family. In Genesis 1, God gave Adam a wife to partner with him in having dominion over God’s creation and being fruitful and filling the earth. This family unit reflected God’s Trinitarian community, and Adam and Eve were called to serve God as a family. In Matthew 12, Jesus defines His family as people who do the will of His Father in heaven (Matt. 12:50). By this definition, the ultimate goal of each family that abides in Christ should be to do the will of God. So, what is the will of God in your family? Do you take time to pray that the Holy Spirit would reveal His will to you and your family? Do you discuss with your family what God’s will for you may be? On this Family Day weekend, I encourage you to pray about and discuss this matter. As a church, we are trying to learn to love like Jesus. This means—as a church family—the will of God for us is to love one another as Christ loved us, and this begins in our individual families. We ought to learn to love our own family as Jesus loved us, and we need to learn to love others just as much as we love our own family. Please consider this, and have a happy Family Day!