James 2:26 (NLT)
Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.
Today’s question is this:
Does my family know, by the way I treat them, that I love Christ?
Just like yesterday, I want you to get past all of the Sunday-school clichés and I want you to really examine this issue in your life by spending some time answering the following questions. I want you to be specific and write your answers down on a piece of paper:
Husbands, does your wife see Jesus in how you treat her? In your presence, does she feel loved or does she feel fear? When you open your mouth, does she expect blessings or does she expect criticism? If she were honest, how would your wife describe you? Would your love for Christ be a part of her description?
Wives, does your husband see Jesus in how you treat him? In your presence, does he feel loved or does he feel inadequate? When you open your mouth, does he expect blessings or does he expect criticism? If he were honest, how would your husband describe you? Would your love for Christ be a part of his description?
Parents, do your children see Jesus in how you treat them? Do you encourage them or do you tear them down? Do they know that you’re proud of them or are they wondering if they even matter to you? Most of all, are you leading them to love Christ or are you leading them to tolerate Christ until they can move out of your house?
Now, I want you to spend a few moments in prayer.
Husbands / Fathers, pray something like this:
God, I want to give You my family. I am not able, on my own, to love them as they ought to be loved. I’m not able to guide and direct them to You as I should. I’m not just asking for Your help. I’m not just asking for suggestions along the way. I’m asking You to take full control. I want to give my family to You. I trust You completely. God, please give me the strength I need to be the servant leader my family needs. Help me be a man that rejects passivity, accepts responsibility, leads courageously, and expects the greater reward, Your reward. I give you my wife and I give you my kids. Please help me to love them as I ought to while leading them to You.
Wives / Mothers, pray something like this:
God, I want to give You my family. Apart from You, I know I’m not able to be the wife my husband needs or the mother my children need. I need Your grace every single morning. Lord, help me to love my husband as I ought to. Continue to show me opportunities to encourage him. Open my eyes to new ways to show Him that I admire Him and most of all, that I trust Him. I give my children to You. Help us raise them up to honor You in how they live. Help me be a wife and a mother that constantly reflects Your love onto my family. I trust You completely, Lord, and I give my life and my family to You.
Now, spend a few minutes in silence. Give God some time to speak.
Don’t forget to breathe.
Now love your family like you never have before.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NLT)
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
