Loving My Family :: All Year Long

“and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  Mark 12:30-31

  I only have two goals (resolutions, if you will) for 2015: to love God and love others more. Having these not-so-specific  and non-measurable goals is unique for me, but I needed a change of pace and focus. I plan to grow in my love of God through reading the Bible and praying. I can only love Him more deeply if I know Him more intimately. When it comes to the second goal – loving others – I can think of lots of applications. I need to love my neighbor (my literal neighbors) and my community through outreach and service. I need to love those in my church, especially in our small group. The Bible is clear that we need to do these things. But even above those groups of people, I need to grow in my love for those closest to me – my wife and my children.   A Failure to Love

“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”  I John 4:20-21

Of course, I feel a deep love my family in my heart. But I regularly fail to live that out. I am all-too-often selfish, lazy, and unkind. The words in John’s letter cut to my bone. It’s illogical for me to say that I love God if I don’t show love to others, especially to those in my family. Therefore, this year I will focus on loving my family through how I pursue, provide for, and protect them.   Come back on Friday to read how I plan to pursue, provide and protect my family…