Family

How important is family to you?  It is the fabric that holds this world together.  However, there are times that family can often cause hurt, resentments, bitterness, etc.  I know for myself, that if I have any unresolved issues in my own family, it is difficult to totally focus on helping others.  No matter how difficult things get, family should be there for one another.

My beginning passage for today is taken from 1 Timothy 3:vs 1-7.  It reads,

"1 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; 3 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4 one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence 5 (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); 6 not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil."  This same concept not only applies to our family lives, but in just about each and every situation we may encounter. How can we reach other families or individuals?

OBSTACLES TO FAMILY UNITY

One obstacle is a big one: Unforgiveness.  It says in the Word, "Forgive others, and God will forgive you."   God has already forgiven us through Jesus, but it minimizes all that Christ did for us on the Cross, when we don't forgive others.  For we are told in Ephesians 4 vs. 31&32 "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has forgiven you."

When we choose to let unforgiveness fester in our lives like an open wound, it brings bitterness, resentment, anger and rage.  We are told in the Word to put those emotions aside.  When we have those emotions residing in our souls, it also brings about grudges. In Philippians 4 vs. 8 and 9 it states: "Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything  worthy of praise, dwell on these things.  The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."