Word for the day by Christian Education forum
Family:
a recreation of relationship
“For this
reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth
derives its name.”
Recently
our Church family experienced the joys of family retreat at a Christian Retreat
Center in New York. At retreat we all embarked upon many adventures such as
boating, zip-lining, sports, and various indoor games. These activities helped
us all to foster a communal bond with the members of our church. One of the
byproducts of retreat is recreation of relationships. However, recreate means
prepare before you create. We must personally prepare our mind, body and
atmosphere as well as our circumstances before we reach out to others to create
relationships.
In
order to create long lasting relationships with God’s holy people, we must
first nurture our own faith and power within our heart. Ephesians 3 prays for
one to possess “power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ
may dwell in your hearts through faith.” In order to strengthen our very most
inner being, we need to understand that our time, money, and personal interest
must all be sacrificed to maintain a good relationship with others. Once we are
willing to give all these things, we can start to show love to others. Only
when we are rooted and established in a sacrificial love can we begin to create
a familial relationship with others. Through this new connection, we are then
able to truly understand the depth and immortal love of Christ for us.
Family
does not come from human creation. Family comes from the Father. The word
“family” is derived from the Greek word “Patria” which comes from the word
“Pater” which means “Father”. Family is directly linked to the Father. He has
intended our family to be a worshipping community of believers. In other words,
our community is our family. In order to strengthen these communal and familial
ties, we need to share our experiences with each other and we need to make
ourselves available. We must not close our social circles to those who have
disabilities; rather we must be the Christ to all people. Christ was known to
have friends who were lepers, prostitutes, beggars, and thieves – we too must
have open hearts and minds. Once we are able to open our personal lives to
others, we are able to invite Christ and his love in and that is how family is
will become complete.
Let
us continue to grow with each other in Christ. Openly accept those around us
because only then will we be able to truly experience God's love in our life.
Today, let us reflect on family in the community and bear in mind that the
worshipping community is the body of Christ and therefore we must continually
work to strengthen this body. We must always hold steadfast to the teaching of
Romans 12:5 which states "So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and
individually members one of another."
Prayer:
- Father we bow
before you. Strengthen us with your power so that we are able to love others
and invite others in to your family.
Joseph
V. Thomas. Long Island M T C, NY