One of my favorite passages is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-7: We are to teach our children about Jesus and God’s plan for their lives. And the idea was not just to fill the earth with people, but fill the earth with His image in which man and woman were made.” Our chief responsibility as parents is to represent the Gospel. He told them to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. In his book Raising Kingdom Kids, author and pastor Tony Evans writes, “God created the first family. God’s goal for your family is to advance the Gospel God gave us the family as a training ground to learn and grow in our walk with Him. You can show joy and patience in the face of adversity. You can show love to your spouse, even when they’ve acted in a way that makes them seem undeserving. You can show kindness to your children, even when they are driving you crazy. Through our family, we have an opportunity every day display fruits of the Spirit. God’s goal for your family is to display these fruits of the Spirits – reflections of His very own character. Our lives should be marked by these characteristics. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control against such things there is no law” ( Galatians 5:22-23). For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” ( 2 Corinthians 3:18).Īs a result, we live our lives in the Spirit and bear fruit. “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. Our lives are a steady march toward becoming more and more like Christ, with the Holy Spirit’s help. When we become followers of Christ, we are a new creation ( 2 Corinthians 5:17). God’s goal for your family is to display His character And, we bring God glory when we allow the world to see the love of Christ through our actions and our daily family living. We bring God glory when, as parents, we are devoted to raising our kids in the discipline and instruction of the Lord ( Ephesians 6). In the context of family, I bring God glory when as a husband, I commit to loving my wife just as Christ loved the church ( Ephesians 5). Reflect His image and show the world what He cares for.” Jesus Himself said it this way: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” ( Matthew 5:16). As Lecrae puts it in his song “The Messengers,” “Don’t have to wonder your purpose or what you’re here for. And, His will is for us to be salt and light in the world around us. So, how do we do this? Simply put, as individuals, we bring God glory when we do His will. God gives us the opportunity to bring Him glory through our family. God’s goal for your family is to bring Him glory God gives us the Scriptures to show us exactly what He wants to accomplish in our family. These God-given family goals are not secret or hidden from our view. The family – in and of itself – is not the end-game. God didn’t design in the family to be that way. Yet, even still, we rarely think deliberately and intentionally about the purpose – God’s purpose. That’s why so many of us spend time with our family and invest in its success. God does everything on-purpose, and He created the family with goals in mind. In the garden, the first family had a purpose: to steward, to work, to create and ultimately be God’s companion and bring Him glory. I will make a helper corresponding to him’” (Genesis 2:18). “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. The family was God’s idea in the beginning. Rest assured, God has a goal and purpose for your family, even if we don’t give it the attention we are supposed to. We have career goals, retirement goals, even vacation goals, yet most of us probably don’t think too often about goals for our families. We have worked for organizations with goals and objectives, and perhaps we’ve even been held accountable for our role in meeting them. We’ve set some, achieved a few and probably failed to accomplish others. Most of us, at some point in time, have thought about goals.
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