Take It Personal: Part 2 - Family
In previous post I talked about the importance of taking your time personal. If you haven't read it yet, I encourage you to
and do so.
Take your family Personal
God places an enormous value on family. Scripture is weighty with this idea and if that is God’s heart, it should be ours too. Why do so many pastors and ministers try to discourage their children from going into vocational ministry? Should it not be the opposite? What I have seen many times is one, the church tore that pastor, and probably his family, to pieces and two, many pastors and ministers do not protect their family space.
My pastor has taught me well that it is okay to say no sometimes. He has been an incredible model of this knowing that he is a minister to his family first. If you were to try to reach him on his day off, and you managed to actually catch him, he would ask if it were an emergency and if not, it will have to wait until tomorrow. I know that seems harsh to some of you but he understands the importance of taking his time and his family time very personal. For me as I am learning to do this better, sometimes it is a simple as turning off my cell phone on the day or two before or after a camp or speaking engagement knowing I am about to be away from them for a while. A lot of times, it is giving one-hundred percent when I get back no matter how tired I may feel. They need to know they are not an afterthought to whatever else I have going on, in ministry or otherwise. I am still learning to do this well by the way.
This is a struggle for me at times. I am normally good about staying home when I can, especially in busy seasons, but not always spending time with my family. Being “there” is not enough, I have to be present.
In some of my reading about discipleship and leadership I was reminded of this idea that we will reproduce ourselves. I have always taught that we should be reproducing ourselves but when we stop and think about it, we are reproducing ourselves. It is not a matter of if we choose to. That is a sobering fact. Do I want my son to grow up and be emotionally checked out from his family? Do I want my daughter married to a man like that? My prayer for them has always been for them to fall in love with Jesus and serve him. It still is, I just know my roll is more than prayer. That is a fact I have learned over my time as a father but am still learning everyday how to actually live that way. My hope through this section is that you are challenged. May you be encouraged to take your family personally and give them what is theirs.
Photo by Sandy Millar on Unsplash