Family...

What does your family look like?

Every family looks different, but the one that should always look the same is the family of God.  However, it seems like this concept of being a family that belongs to God as His children is hard for a lot of people to process.  

Whatever our family looked like growing up, whether good or bad, is what we will automatically project onto God as our heavenly father, and onto others as brother's and sister's in Christ without realizing it.  If we choose to, we can allow God to heal each of us from past pains caused by our earthly families.  We can choose to love each other the way God has demonstrated to us in how our church family should look like. 

Should we argue over things that cause division in the church?  Over things that don't matter to building God's kingdom and not our own?  Shouldn't we instead ask ourselves if we want to be a part of loving each other where they are at and being Christ to them through the process?  Shouldn't we consider if we could be used to divide God's church instead of being a part of building the unity that Christ died for on the cross?

I understand it is hard to choose to love people at times.  To choose to respond in love when you are being attacked.  But it is by choosing to love and understanding that love is just that, a choice, that we lay our selfish desires aside and begin to be the body of Christ as His children.

My challenge to us all, including myself, is to chose to understand why a person may not be acting Christ like when expect it from them.  To try and put ourselves in their shoes no matter how hard it is to lay ourselves aside. To be able to be used by God to speak healing and love to wounds that may come out when we least expect it.  Because when we choose to love one another no matter what, we choose to be Christ to the family of God we are as His Children.  Nothing more, nothing less!

Because remember, it is by our example that others will either choose to follow Christ or choose not to.  Just something to consider.