Loving your Family

Being born again in Jesus means starting over and changing everything you did and knew before, and now living the way Jesus does. That includes learning that God is Love. Like the actual act of Love is God and can only come from God. So, you can’t truly love unless you have God. I struggled with this. Did I not love my kids and husband before I had God? I felt in my heart their happiness was above mine and that I sacrificed myself to make sure they had everything they needed and wanted. They had all the clothes they wanted and the newest toy and their favorite snacks. They were in all the extracurricular clubs they wanted to be a part of, and I sacrificed my time to get them to wherever they needed to be and to have whatever was needed. I made sure they had the best birthday parties and fun vacations. I made sure Christmas was magical and all the seasonal events were done and checked off before Christmas Day. Even when I took time from my family to do selfish things, like going out with friends, I would make sure they had a fun babysitter that would entertain them and make them happy, or make sure they had friends to hang out with. But how was I loving my kids? Was I loving them the way that matters? In a way for them to have peace? Who was I making happy? I wasn’t making God happy. I wasn’t putting my family’s salvation first. I wasn’t pushing my kids closer to God, and I surely wasn’t glorifying him. But I didn’t know. I had no clue I wasn’t truly loving my family the way God intended. Why didn’t I know I was doing this? Because I wasn’t picking up my owner’s manual that tells me just how to do this life. I wasn’t grabbing God’s Word and asking him for solutions. I was asking the world. I was not loving my kids’ souls. I was not pushing my husband’s soul to God. I was not seeking God with my soul. Our earthly bodies were happy, but our souls were confused and not at peace. We have got to start loving souls and not bodies only. We have got to start talking to our kids about Jesus. We have got to tell them how to live like Jesus. We must teach forgiveness and patience and how to serve and to be obedient and honest and humble. We have got to teach our kids to pray and not worry. To be bold and not fearful. To be quiet and calm. This will give peace and salvation. And that is the most important thing we can give the future.  And that is how we love our kids the right way. Use the drive to and from school and club events to worship with your kiddos and tell Bible stories to encourage them. Teach them to be thankful for all their belongings and to take care of them so they learn appreciation. Teach them to breathe when they are frustrated and to pray to God for a solution. If you can teach a 5-year-old to calm down and pray when things aren’t going his way, can you imagine what his life would look like when he grows up? Imagine what his kids would learn from him, and his kid’s kids. I’m challenging us all to start loving our families the right way. God’s way. Focus on their souls and push those souls to God. That is how we change this dark and scary world to a world we want for our kids. A world with God.