Monday, May 17, 2010

We are Family (I got all my sisters with me!)

"We are family, I got all my sisters with me."
We Are Family, Sister Sledge, 1979


Family relations. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize they are not all they’re cracked up to be. Unfortunately, many of us have a Norman Rockwell picture of what family relations should look like, and when our family doesn’t match it, we get depressed.

Whether you have an unfortunate relationship with your parents, siblings, spouse or children, you feel like everyone else in the world must have a perfect relationship with theirs. Yet your own family seems dysfunctional. Think you’re alone?

Even Jesus, God’s perfect son, had issues with his own family. In Luke 11:27, a woman called out to Jesus "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you." But in verse 28 Jesus replies, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."

In Mark 3:21, Jesus’ family try to take charge of him saying ‘He is out of his mind.” I’m sure I’ve thought that about my own family members from time to time. They may have even thought it about me. In Jesus’ case, his family is unable to get to him because of the crowd. So the crowd tells Jesus his mother and brothers are outside. “’Who are my mother and my brothers?’ Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.’” (V. 33-35)

If you relationship with your family is not what you had hoped it to be, look around at your family of Christian believers. If you don’t have a family of believers, now it the time to join a church, Bible study or other Christian support group. Then regardless of your own personal family relationship, you can still say “We are family, I got all my sisters…(and brothers)…with me.”

Musical Musings:
1. Do you ever feel like your family is dysfunctional?
2. Does it matter as much now that you realize that even Jesus had family issues?
3. If you don’t have a church family, why not start looking for one today.

Karaoke:
Dear Lord, thank you for being a perfect parent, my heavenly father. Please help me in my relationship with family members to be loving and forgiving. Thank you for the examples of tough relationships in Jesus life, so I can know that you really understand. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Rock On: Read about Jesus’ family issues in Mark 3:20-34 and Mark 6:1-6.


Chatty Kelly

5 comments:

Andrea said...

GOD has certainly blessed me through the years with HIS family. No matter what happens...I am "never" alone...HE is always there to be mom, dad, sister, etc. HE is the only one who can meet "all" my needs!
Blessings, hugs, and prayers,
andrea

Heart2Heart said...

Kelly,

I have also learned that our family can be extended to include friends and others that may not have a family to share their lives with any longer. To me, family extends past just those blood relationships to include so many others. Great post!


Love and Hugs ~ Kat

Runner Mom said...

Hey, Kelly! This is a great post. We actually had a mini family reunion last weekend....what a blessing it was too. I love my family and my spiritual one too!
Hugs!
Susan

My ADHD Me said...

You've really thought some of your family members were "out of their mind"?
Wow. me too. We could be sisters!!

I absolutely LOVE these!

HisPrincess said...

Everyone has a resident family nut case. I'm pretty sure I'm it.

Someone has to make everyone else feel normal!