All in the Family

I will be a father to you,

and you will be my sons and daughters,

says the Lord Almighty.

2 Corinthians 6:18

I know two sisters who have not seen each other in more than two decades. The minor rift that caused their estrangement escalated over the years as hurt feelings and anger aggravated the situation. They never visit their parents at the same time; holiday visits are alternated or are skipped. This has caused no end of sorrow for the other members of the family, especially their other two sisters. But both are insistent. They will not forgive and forget.

In my own family, there have been arguments that lasted years. A friend hasn’t seen his mother since he was 23. He’s just about to turn 40. I’ve often heard from police officers that some of the most dangerous calls they get are about domestic violence.

Families, which are the bedrock of our society, can be clusters of loving safety and happiness. They can also be volcanic pits of emotion, unstable and damaging.

Is it any wonder that God’s children quibble among themselves?

We all love Him; one God. We have been adopted and loved by Him. His Son, Jesus, is our Savior, our Brother, our Lord. We have been called by God to be His children. His family.

So why can’t we get along?

Because we’re human. We have egos, which often tell us that we know better than that person over there what’s right and good. We desire what’s best for US, and we can have some pretty set ideas of what that means.

We also come to know our heavenly Father through His Word, scriptures that were inspired by Him, but—as we’ve seen—able to be interpreted in different ways. And we sometimes have serious disagreements with what one interpretation or another says.

And that’s OK. It really is. Because this is what families do sometimes.

What’s not OK is when we forget that most important of commandments. It’s OK to disagree. It’s even OK not to want to be anywhere near the people you disagree with. It’s not OK to hate.    

When someone has accepted Christ as their Savior, they are automatically your sibling in love and salvation. This doesn’t mean you have to take them out to dinner or even embrace the same doctrines they do. But if you fail to love them, you run the risk of disavowing the one thing God has asked most of you.

Personally, I’m not ready to do that. I chose to love.