Family

In my church, the month of May is designated “Family Month”. I’ve never asked why May and not another month, or even why not every month, perhaps one day I might. For me, however, family ought to be celebrated every day since I believe that family is that important. I know of some families where members are not on speaking terms – the family has fractured for one reason or another – and there is no relationship. What a tragedy! Related but unable to relate.

In the dictionary, these two words, relate and related, come one after the other but are utterly contrasted in their definitions. Relate is defined as “getting along well together, or understand each other”, while related means “belonging to the same family, group, or type; connected by blood or marriage”. Being related, therefore, does not automatically translate to being able to relate. It’s a pity when persons, related to each other cannot relate to each other. Clearly this indicates that family must be much more than sharing a name or the same blood, family must be about establishing healthy relationships, identifying with and being sympathetic to one another. Families must seek to get along well together, and strive to understand each other.

The concept of family was first instituted by God in the Garden of Eden through His relationship with Adam and then with Adam and Eve. Throughout the book of Genesis we see how the family evolved from a single unit to an extensive household to an entire nation. In those days, the family was not just bound together by blood but by community where everyone looked out for each other, offered assistance, protection, and co-operation, showed loyalty, shared in the work load, and in the well-being of the family. It involved the acceptance of communal responsibility. 

Family is about relationship, fellowship and agreement. Our greatest example of family is in the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – three distinct Persons in One body. Each Person with different roles but working in tandem. They work together in love, fellowship, and agreement. What an illustration of family life and living in community. God wants us to have that type of relationship with Him and each other but something’s in the way, and it’s called selfishness. 

One thing’s for sure, you cannot be a family by yourself, there’s no such thing. The Bible refers to family as a household, and a household always includes other people. Jesus and His disciples were in a family relationship where they prayed together, ate together, recognized each other’s burdens and supported each other. They weren’t stingy but acted out of a genuine love one for another. Judas Iscariot was selfish and that selfishness got in the way of his relationship with the rest of the family. 

Family is also about love and acceptance. There’s no place for hate and envy in family. There’s no place for grudges and holding on to “things” that happened or having something against someone else. That’s not family. Family is all about accepting each other with our perceived faults, flaws, problems, and failures. God brings us into His family just as we are because He loves us just as we are – nothing we do could make Him love us more or less and that’s what we ought to be doing as well but instead we’re constantly looking for a reason to cast out the condemned – there’s but one accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10), stop applying for the job.

Family is about coming together united in a common bond. It’s about supporting each other to the point where if one is in trouble or pain, we all share in that burden in genuine care and not feigned concern. Family is about seeing each other’s value and worth, not on the basis of achievements, position, education, circumstances, or wealth but as a masterpiece of Almighty God. The basis of our unity as a family must be God and our love for Him and each other through Him.

Today I encourage you to find ways to stay connected as family. Emulate Jesus and His disciples, pray together, eat together, have fun as a family, do activities as a unit, even simple things done together make a big impact. Understand that there’s a power within a family united which must never be underestimated. That’s why the devil is attacking families the world over; he truly understands what Jesus meant by, “Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.” (Matthew 18:18-20 MSG)

There are many layers of meaning and significance when it comes to family which are essential to a proper understanding of what family truly is, and which far exceed the capacity of this blog. But what I aim to do here at Bethel at Balata is whet your curiosity and interest so that you are encouraged to delve deeper for yourself. 

May God continue to bless you and your family, unite you as one – one heart, one mind (see Acts 4:32) in healthy relationship, true community, genuine fellowship and faithful love. 

Amen†

Family

Shelley Johnson May 1, 2017