Families

Families are precious. Not all families are created equal, so to speak. But having a family is a gift. You only have a certain amount of time with your family. Only God knows how long you have your family members for. When that time is up the only thing left is memories. How you interacted with your family members determine what kind of memories you have. If you had a poor relationship, then you may have memories filled with regret. If you had good relationships then you have precious memories.

I know there are many members in a family. Sometimes not everyone is going to get along. Life is real, and so are disagreements and arguing.  Sometimes it's hard to understand harsh words and actions.

I try to see the underlining problems that stem from harsh words. We have all been hurt. No one is exempt from hurt. Sometimes emotional pain and hurt takes longer to heal than physical pain. Hurt runs deep. Sometimes the feelings of rejection and hurt never go away. We are controlled by our emotions. Sometimes things that happened in the past keep triggering our hurt and it makes it raw again.

Forgiveness is harder said than done. I know some people don't seemly deserve forgiveness, but neither do we. Without God, we have nothing to glory in. We are wretched and miserable.

I think alot of families are throwing their family unity out the door and making the devil's job of destruction easy. The devil is good at destroying things and people. And we are so selfish and blind that we let him tear our families apart without a fight. And the ones that suffer the most are the children coming after us.

Not everyone has to agree. Instead of disagreeing and moving on. Often times we devour each other. Maybe not literally, but with our words. Words are very powerful. And what we say can't be taken back.

Sometimes I get so caught up in the emotion of the argument, that I forget what is really important. I have "guilty" stamped on my forehead.

Time is quickly fading. I see that now, more than ever. We don't know how much time we have left. But we can embrace now, and live to the fullest.

It's time to put the past behind us. Our feelings of hurt and disappointment shouldn't control us anymore. We can't waste our lives being bitter or upset with others. Life has far more meaning than that.  It's time to grow up and start fresh with those we have broken relationships with.

I know you may think that you don't need a family, but you do. God knows what we need and He has given it to us. Maybe your family needs you more than you need them. Don't rob your family of the blessing of you.

Family can be a beautiful thing, not just a dreaded word. But we have to work at relationships. We have to mend broken fences. We have to try while we still have our family with us. If we let this opportunity slip by because we are too prideful, then we will be filled with regret.

So in short, love, forgive, and live with the blessings God has given us. Family is not forever, but memories do last a lifetime.

More importantly, are we showing our lost family members what life in Christ is all about? Or are we turning them away by our hypocrisy?  Life is forever. Are we pointing our family members to eternal happiness or are our lives leading  them to eternal damnation? I know we can't make that decision for anyone. The decision to accept or reject Christ is their own. But we can influence them by our words and actions. This is what life is all about. The petty arguments are just distractions to steal our focus off of what really matters.

Let's determine to heal shaky relationships and seek peace. The world has so much hate and anger already, let's make our family a place of peace and rest. Let's extend grace to those that are difficult to get a long with, and use our words to help and not hurt others.