| Yesterday's Bible Study |
In this verse from 1 Timothy, Paul reminds us that our first ministry is always at home. We should not neglect our families in favor of ministry or church work--those are secondary to our most important mission field, our own family. Today, we will talk about why it is so important to focus on loving the family and how this prepares us to care for the church of God.
What does it mean to rule your own house? It's about much more than rules; ruling your house is about setting an example and demonstrating the love of the Lord. Sometimes discipline is required, but the motivation for everything is the love of the Lord. We do not rule our houses because we want to be in charge, but rather, because we recognize that the Lord Himself is in charge of everything.
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Loving our families can be difficult at times. Because we know each other so well simply by living in close proximity, we can get almost too comfortable with each other. When this happens, we often let our emotions guide us in how we treat each other, instead of remembering that while your family members are your family, they are also children of God. While it is okay (and essential) to be honest with family members, especially when something wrong has happened, we should gird everything we say with love.
God has not asked us to rule our families well in our own strength or cleverness. He hasn't asked us to figure it all out and then present to Him a resume for church leadership! Much to the contrary, He desires that we get to the point of realizing that we live breath-by-breath in His mercy and grace. Family leadership is the prime place to realize this, and when we recognize our utter dependence on Christ to love even those dearest to us, we will also be able to take care of the church of God.
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