Family Fractures
Theme of the Week: Faith in Community
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when brothers live together in harmony! (Psalm 133:1). Bonus Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10
Beginning in the Garden of Eden, Satan has been the CEO of division, driving a wedge of separation between the Creator and his creation. But God so loved his created ones that he provided a way for the division to be mended through his Son, the CEO of unity. In the model prayer that Jesus taught his disciples (Matthew 6:9-13), the first phrase, "our Father," identifies us as brothers and sisters, part of one family in Christ. When community among believers is working right, there's nothing else as beautiful, pleasant, or divine. It honors God and blesses people.
While some measure of sibling rivalry is normal in families, as a dad, my heart is broken whenever my children fight with each other. I want the family to be in unity and to not be at odds with each other. Disagreements are okay, but when discussion turns into words of anger and hate, I'm dismayed and begin the discipline process if agreement and forgiveness don't soon transpire. I can only imagine what our heavenly Father must feel when his children are at odds with one another. When we reaffirm in prayer that we are, indeed, children of our heavenly Father, this reminds us of our spiritual connection and responsibilities as family members.
—David A. Anderson in Gracism
My Response: What rift in God's family could I work to heal?
Thought to Apply: Whatever disunites man from God, also disunites man from man. —Edmund Burke (British statesman)
Adapted from Gracism (InterVarsity, 2007) by permission.
Copyright © 2009 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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Lord, help me to realize that other Christians really are my brothers and to treat them as family.
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