Who do we consider to be family in our lives?
Jesus had a family He grew up with (Luke 8:19), the twelve disciples (Mark 3:16) and many other disciples (Luke 10:1). He treated them all as part of His family and as part of God’s family.
We can grow in the roles God has designed for our families. Since we are adopted into God’s eternal family, we can be confident that His help and love will encourage us to be available to help our household family and our extended family. Forgiveness is important in families, and sometimes leaving some distance. But we can begin to experience more freedom from the burdens for our families that He wants to carry for us. We can see growth in our relationships at home. We can reach out to others to be their family and include them in ours. We can leave a light on to guide them home to God.
We proved to be gentle among you. As a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children, in the same way we had a fond affection for you and were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us … we were also pleading and encouraging and urging each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. From 1 Thessalonians 2: 7-12
Saul was a man on a mission. He was a rabbi educated in the Jewish Scriptures. He hunted down Christians for arrest. He was on his way to Damascus to bring any Christians he found back to Jerusalem for sentencing and death. But on the road, Jesus came to him in a blinding light, and Saul was actually blinded. Jesus told Saul that it was He whom he was looking for, and in Damascus he would get new marching orders. It was then that Saul started referring to himself by his Roman name, Paul, as he was sent out to be a light to the Gentiles. He was sent to share about Jesus with non-Jews as a guide to the blind, and a light in the darkness (Romans 2:19). Not only did Paul undergo a spiritual transformation, but he was also totally changed as a man. As he journeyed around the known world, he shared what Christ had done in a new, radical way. His letter to the Thessalonians outlined these new roles. As a disciple, we are called to love others like a mother and like a father.
Instead of shouting dogged doctrine as before, he treated those he came across as family. He didn’t go alone, but had spiritual companions with him, who were like his family: Barnabas, John Mark, Silas and Timothy.
God is asking us to walk out into the world as God’s light. To bring the light we enjoy from our family into the lives of others. To bring to them what we learn and know about a mother’s tender love and a father’s encouraging heart. To share our lives and our families with them. In my role as a family mentor, it was hard not to want to see the lasting change that Christ brings. But in the brief time I was with these families, I could love them with a mother’s love and a father’s heart.
How can you share your life with someone outside your family this week?
Who can you invite into the warmth of your family and introduce them to God’s bright glow?
God, You are so tender with me. You encourage me and lift me up. You have provided so much for me. I want to share that with someone in need of Your warm family. I love Your heart. Help me share mine. Amen.
happy hunger 
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