How are you treating your family?
2022-06-302 Samuel 23:5 NLT
Have a think about how you are at church, school, or workplace versus how you are when it’s just you and your family. Is there any difference? Do you tend to have more patience or kindness when you’re dealing with people you don’t know? Are you willing to help those outside your home, but inside you tend to ignore or roll your eyes when someone needs a hand with something? Although we love our family, we’re often more inclined to be helpful, cooperative, and compassionate – in other words, show love through our actions – towards those outside our families. We might think it doesn’t matter too much. But God sees who we are in every situation, and expects us to show love to everyone.
In 1 Timothy 5:8 we read: ‘Those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers’ (NLT). God puts a lot of importance on our attitude to our family and how we care for them, and the first place we should be practising compassion and kindness, patience and gentleness, is in our homes.
God designed families to be places of love and support, and we should be able to share our frustrations after a stressful day, find rest when we’re tired, and find encouragement after a disappointment. But it works both ways – we also need to do our part in providing support, giving encouragement, and treating our loved ones with compassion.
If you’re aware that you’ve taken your family for granted recently, pray this prayer: ‘Father, thank You for my family. Help me to contribute to an atmosphere of love and acceptance in my home, and if I become impatient or neglectful of my family, give me a nudge back in the right direction. Amen.’