The one thing I've always desired and prayed for even since I was just a student was to be part of a godly family and to have a godly family of my own one day.
Understanding Christ will lead us to understand the importance of family. So many Christians today sacrifice family for the sake of better careers, ministries, net worth or pleasure. God puts heavy emphasis on family. When He made promises in the Old Testament, it was always in the context of blessing or calling not just one person, but the whole family as well.
Knowing the habits of godly families will show us the heart stance of a family that seeks to honour God. What are some of the things that Christ-centred families do? Here are five things they do more than others.
Spend time with one another. Quality family time and it's importance cannot be overemphasised. As a member of your biological family, do you take the time out to build relationships with your mother, father, husband, wife, sibling or children? Where your time goes, there your value is most evident.
Stay authentic. So many people are playing pretend within their homes, or sometimes with the people they are in church, work or in public and it does not match who they are at home. God calls us to live lives of integrity meaning that we are the same people we are anywhere we go. Proverbs 11:3 tells us, "The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity."
Understand and respects the roles of others. Your parents, spouse, siblings or children all have God-given roles and authority. To respect that authority and right is to do the godly thing. Often in our desire to impose our roles and our rights we lose sight of the roles of others. We must look first to the roles and rights of other members of our family too.
Seeks to grow in your role. As a member of your household, what is God calling you to do? There are God-given roles that are common for all of us, but there are also specific commands that God will give you to play in our family. That's why it's important to hear the voice of God - so we can better serve others starting with our families.
Loves one another. God's second greatest command to us is to love one another. We cannot love other people who are not related to us while completely neglecting loving our family members. Out of a Christ-centred family comes love for one another despite of the offences, wrongdoings and failures against each other. John 13:35 says, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
