When people hear the word family, it means different things. To some it could be a group of friends that may be so close you would consider them family, to others it may be their family growing up and for others it could be their spouse and children that come to mind. One thing that should come to mind when you think of family is closeness. It is hard to live with someone and not get close to them, to know their likes and dislikes, their dreams and desires for their future. This closeness is our first picture of what unity is. When the family is working together toward one goal it can give you a clear picture of what unity looks like; however, when the family is fragmented it also reveals how difficult it is to accomplish something as a group without unity.
So if you haven't figured it out yet, today I am talking about unity within a family. Have you ever been to a family reunion where there are contests and it is one family against the others. If not another place you can see this same type of competition, The Family Fued. One family against another one. All of a sudden you are cheering for one another, and supporting even the craziest answers, because you are fighting for one common goal. Now what would happen to our families if we faced life with the same concept. It is our family against the world, so we are going to support each other, encourage each other and build each other up. Could you imagine how it would impact the children of these families, or the marriages. I think it would bring a new depth to the marriage and the children would be trying to help build it instead of tear it down.
So how do we get from completely fractured to complete unity. Believe it or not, it all starts with one common goal. If your family has a common goal of playing games one night a week, it may take a bit to get it implemented but the results I am sure would be to bring a greater unity to your family. If you then were to make it one games night and then a family movie night, once again, I am sure you would see greater unity. Positive time together fosters unity. Is this going to be easy... no. If your family is really fragmented even getting the family to agree on a family night activity may be a challenge; however it is worth the work.
When my grandparents were still alive, their goal was to keep their family close. Every birthday, every holiday, and every Sunday were designated as family days. We would all gather either at my grandparent's home or a restaurant and spend time together as a family. I was really close with even my extended family because of that. However when my grandmother passed away, it ended. The whole family fragmented and we have not been as close since. I look back on all of that time with fond memories though and I look forward to bringing that to my family when I have children of my own.
Just as with a family, God has his goals of how to bring his church into unity. He wants us to encourage each other, support each other and walk with each other. He wants us to realize that we are a united front against the schemes of the enemy. If we all viewed church as a way to build that unity and to be able to grow in our family of believers, our view of church would be changed greatly. We would want to be there, to work toward this common goal of unity. The church is God's family. My challenge to you this week is to think of some ways you can bring more unity not only to your own family, but also to the family of God.
So if you haven't figured it out yet, today I am talking about unity within a family. Have you ever been to a family reunion where there are contests and it is one family against the others. If not another place you can see this same type of competition, The Family Fued. One family against another one. All of a sudden you are cheering for one another, and supporting even the craziest answers, because you are fighting for one common goal. Now what would happen to our families if we faced life with the same concept. It is our family against the world, so we are going to support each other, encourage each other and build each other up. Could you imagine how it would impact the children of these families, or the marriages. I think it would bring a new depth to the marriage and the children would be trying to help build it instead of tear it down.
So how do we get from completely fractured to complete unity. Believe it or not, it all starts with one common goal. If your family has a common goal of playing games one night a week, it may take a bit to get it implemented but the results I am sure would be to bring a greater unity to your family. If you then were to make it one games night and then a family movie night, once again, I am sure you would see greater unity. Positive time together fosters unity. Is this going to be easy... no. If your family is really fragmented even getting the family to agree on a family night activity may be a challenge; however it is worth the work.
When my grandparents were still alive, their goal was to keep their family close. Every birthday, every holiday, and every Sunday were designated as family days. We would all gather either at my grandparent's home or a restaurant and spend time together as a family. I was really close with even my extended family because of that. However when my grandmother passed away, it ended. The whole family fragmented and we have not been as close since. I look back on all of that time with fond memories though and I look forward to bringing that to my family when I have children of my own.
Just as with a family, God has his goals of how to bring his church into unity. He wants us to encourage each other, support each other and walk with each other. He wants us to realize that we are a united front against the schemes of the enemy. If we all viewed church as a way to build that unity and to be able to grow in our family of believers, our view of church would be changed greatly. We would want to be there, to work toward this common goal of unity. The church is God's family. My challenge to you this week is to think of some ways you can bring more unity not only to your own family, but also to the family of God.