Soldier's Orders: Redefined Family
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first Commandment.
Mark 12:30 (NKJV)
Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then He pointed to His disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother!”
Matthew 12:48-50 (NLT)
Talk about an unpopular sermon! To preach on a redefined family (an order clearly issued by Jesus) is NOT a topic I’ve heard in a church.
Most of us love our kin first and foremost: whether they’re good or bad, Christians or not. We'll walk to hell and back for our children.
Yes, love is right, but consider three things:
The prodigal's dad did not walk to hell (trying to change his mind or retrieve him). In knowing his son had lessons to learn, he gave him the space and time to suffer the consequences of his poor choices. He waited for his son to turn around.*
Jesus endured His Own doubting brothers. He didn’t try to justify Himself. Neither did He allow them to stop Him. Instead, He continued His ministry and waited on THEIR CHOICE to follow Him. The Books of James and Jude prove His wisdom.
Loving our families is good and right. The Word of God tells us to honor them.** Even so, wise love does not chase. It waits. Wise love does not spoil kin. It disciplines. Wise love does not scream at them. It listens– first of all… to the still, small Voice of God.
Actors, models, and talent for Christ:
Wartime troops know, feel, and live this teaching. Fellow soldiers become their family: a band of brethren in a higher cause.
You, too, are your Captain’s wartime soldiers. You, too, must redefine your family. If you're grown, it may or may not include your familiar kin.
Your Commander-in-Chief is the Lord God. Your Captain is Christ. Your first Love is Them.*** After Them, your closest kin are Christians.
Because you have new and better Blood from a new and better birth in Jesus. 'For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the Image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brethren' (Romans 8:29).
This Order is tough. Nevertheless, it is good, right, and true. If you (temporarily) leave behind doubting family, trust God in their care. He knows how to love them… better than you!
Soldier's Orders: Redefined Family (Part 15)
NOTE: God is my Ghostwriter. If what I write is good, it’s from God. You may see notes to 'Actors, Models & Talent for Christ.' If you think you're not in show business, think again. Shakespeare said, 'All the world's a stage and all its men and women merely players.’ Mostly true. But you're not merely players. You are messengers and ambassadors for the King of kings.
* The Parable of the Prodigal Son: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+15%3A11-32&version=NASB
** Examples of Scriptures on family love: 'Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you' (Exodus 20:12).
** 'A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh' (Genesis 2:24).
** 'But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever' (1 Timothy 5:8).
** 'Let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth' (Malachi 2:15).
*** 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first Commandment' (Mark 12:30).
*** 'But I have this against you, that you have left your first love' (Revelation 2:4).