World Wide ME: The Fam.

Its hard to live out your faith in your own family. 


More to the point, it might be the hardest place to really live for Jesus.

Why?

It really comes from a combination of long term conflict, proximity, embarrassment, sibling rivalry, and the natural authority struggles that are part of developing identity. All in all, for most people no one else will ever be as close as family, and no one will ever hurt you like family.


Especially for teens and pre-teens, dealing with family can be a major stressor.

They are hostages to their family in many ways.

Why do I say this?

Well...

their family controls where they live, what they watch, who the can be friends with, what clothes they get to wear, whether they get to have pierces ears or long hair, or get frosted tips. Students are in every way captive to their parents controls, and while this is God’s good design for protecting them, it creates lots of angst as they try to become their own people. In many cases, the biggest struggles come when students are either very different from their parents or very similar.

Add to this a rapidly changing body, raging hormonal and brain chemistry changes, and a social explosion of self awareness, and you pretty much have a perfect storm...

which is exactly what you find in most houses that have teenagers...

Yet... The bible give great council to both parent, child and sibling as to how to master their walk of faith in this turmultiotus yet beautiful thing we call family.

God's purpose in family is bigger than us... it is bigger than our parents. He has created the family to be the fabric of society... the glue that holds everything together...

Ultimately family is where the story of God is supposed to be passed from one generation to another.

While often it gets rough for parents and kids as they go through middle school and high school, keep in mind that God put you in your family to shape you, and them, into who he wants you to be.

HOW can you help your family to experience the love of Christ in a more meaningful way?

What behaviors of yours might cause your family to be a hard place for others in it?