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Families Watch Out for Each Other
God sets the lonely in families (Psalm 68:6) Another lesson God teaches His little ones is how blessed we are to be in a family that watches out for one another. God designed families to support each other in good times and bad. Though some of us have lived in families with varying degrees of dysfunction, God’s design has always been that families will be people we can count on, who watch out for us no matter what.
My parents had six children in six and a half years, three sons followed by three daughters, so sibling rivalry was evident in our home when we were children. My older brother David and I tussled some. He was stronger but I was bigger, so we battled evenly. My sister Cheryl told me in later years that as a little girl she feared David and I would kill each other, or at least cause major injury. But we never did, and when push came to shove we loved each other because we were brothers.
I can recall a particular day at the schoolyard of the Lee Elementary School when a playground bully was picking on me and threatening to beat me up. On the other side of the playground my big brother saw what was going on and suddenly he was standing between me and that bully, warning him to leave me alone or he’d let him have it! I was shocked but so thankful! It was not the last time a brother looked out for me, or I for them, but it was up and downs of life.
How I thank God for the family I was born into, and the one He established when Helen and I married, and the family of God – the church. All families confront challenges, but these are God-given opportunities to learn to love and be loved.
Life Application Questions:
1. How have you experienced family watching out for each other?
2. Do you believe God can provide this for you? How does your answer affect the way you see yourself and how you relate to others?
3. What response is the Holy Spirit asking of you now?
God sets the lonely in families (Psalm 68:6) Another lesson God teaches His little ones is how blessed we are to be in a family that watches out for one another. God designed families to support each other in good times and bad. Though some of us have lived in families with varying degrees of dysfunction, God’s design has always been that families will be people we can count on, who watch out for us no matter what.
My parents had six children in six and a half years, three sons followed by three daughters, so sibling rivalry was evident in our home when we were children. My older brother David and I tussled some. He was stronger but I was bigger, so we battled evenly. My sister Cheryl told me in later years that as a little girl she feared David and I would kill each other, or at least cause major injury. But we never did, and when push came to shove we loved each other because we were brothers.
I can recall a particular day at the schoolyard of the Lee Elementary School when a playground bully was picking on me and threatening to beat me up. On the other side of the playground my big brother saw what was going on and suddenly he was standing between me and that bully, warning him to leave me alone or he’d let him have it! I was shocked but so thankful! It was not the last time a brother looked out for me, or I for them, but it was up and downs of life.
How I thank God for the family I was born into, and the one He established when Helen and I married, and the family of God – the church. All families confront challenges, but these are God-given opportunities to learn to love and be loved.
Life Application Questions:
1. How have you experienced family watching out for each other?
2. Do you believe God can provide this for you? How does your answer affect the way you see yourself and how you relate to others?
3. What response is the Holy Spirit asking of you now?