Written by David P. Nolte
From Dave's Den:
The theme of the great North American Christian Convention in Kansas City, Missouri was "Growing As God's Family!" That theme was adequately and significantly developed all week. That ought to be our theme in life, too! Let's think about families.
One thing about families is that people come in different sizes and ages. Some are grown up, some are still infants. We can rightly expect a lot more of the adults than the babes! Sometimes we need to develop a spirit of patience with the little ones! A man once told me that I was expecting Keri to be a 3 year old adult. It spoke volumes to me! In the church, too, people need time to grow. If you see a younger brother or sister acting other than you'd think a Christian would act, remember they may be just immature, not phony. Set a good example for them. Pray for them. KINDLY give them a word of PATIENT, GENTLE counsel.
Another thing about families is diverse responsibilities. In healthy families the duties are shared. Nobody does it all, nobody gets by with doing nothing. The tendency in modern America is to do as little as possible, to do the minimum, to just get by. That won't work for the family of God where our motto ought to be "My Utmost for His Highest!" Find a task in the family and gladly put your hand to it!
Families care for one another -- or should. It is a sign of dysfunction when siblings go beyond the normal sibling rivalry to outright hostility. It is abnormal for a parent not to love the child or the child to reject the parent. In God's family love is a given. John reminds us that we can't love God if we don't love our brothers and sisters.
So, let's truly apply ourselves to being His family; taking care of the younger, each doing our part, and loving each other when that's the hardest thing to do!
Yours for Him who makes us family,
Dave