Leading Our Families
Apr 02, 2020
It is so important for us to manage and lead and our families well. Why? Our families make up the church. When we take care of our families, we are taking care of God's church.
What are some practical things you can do to take care of your family?
1) Take care of yourself.
When I coach women, one of the things I talk to them about is self-care. No matter what goals you have or no matter who you want to serve, you can not do an effective job from a place of emptiness. As you lead your family, you are serving your family. The goal is for you to serve out of your overflow instead of your emptiness.
If you have ever traveled on an airplane, you know they go over the safety procedures before taking off. One thing you are told is that if the oxygen masks come down, put on your own mask first before helping someone put on their mask. This principle applies as you take care of your family. Before your family can get quality leadership from you, you have to be healthy. This includes your spirit, soul, and body.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NLT)
23 Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. 24 God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.
God is faithful to show us how to take care of ourselves. The question is: Will you act on what He says?
2) Keep Christ at the center of your family.
Hebrews 3:4 (NLT)
4 For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God.
Is God building your house? Are you allowing Him to? I looked up the word 'building' and it means the process of constructing, shaping, developing, or forming. You see, God can shape, develop, and transform your family. When we desire change in our families, we often try to do the heavy lifting, but that's not what God is asking us to do. He wants us to simply keep Christ at the center and rest.
Psalm 127:1-2 (NLT)
1 Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. 2 It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.
3) Be thankful for YOUR family.
God loves your family and will give you wisdom on how to lead your family. It's important for you to resist the temptation to compare your family with another. Every family is different and made up of different dynamics. We all should keep a heart of gratitude and focus on what God would have for our families. Comparing what our family does or the decisions our family makes with another family, is a distraction from being able to lead our family well.
2 Corinthians 10:12 (NLT)
12 Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!
Let us not be ignorant and use another family as the standard of measurement. Let's be thankful and focused on leading our own family well.
My pray today is that every person who reads this will take care of themselves, keep Christ at the center of their family, and develop an even greater heart of gratitude for their family.
As each of us do these things and lead our families well, God's church gets stronger.
