December 5 - Family Matters

 Read today’s texts first: Ephesians 5,6; Psalms 119:1-80

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

Family matters to God and the more you walk with Him, the more your family will matter to you.

I love the lofty, grand images of Jesus and His church that we see so clearly in the book of Ephesians.  But those principles are worked out in the mundane decisions of everyday life.  Maybe they’re not so mundane after all, especially when the end of the book turns its focus on the family.  Family relationships are the proving ground for all ministry and authority.

• Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord
• Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
• Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right
• Honor your father and mother (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.
• Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord

Sometimes we place church concerns ahead of our own families thinking that we are honouring God first.  But the ministry God has called us to begins at home.  One of the qualifications of an elder (pastor) is to manage their own household well.  Family matters – it’s where we learn to love unconditionally and make disciples.

“Lord, I’m still learning how to love my family unconditionally, regardless of the choices my children and grandchildren make.  But family matters to You and the more I walk with You the more my family matters to me.”