Family family
Let your gentleness be known to everyone.
The Lord is near. Philippians 4:5
Read Colossians 3:18—23
Before I relate to any intimate fellow being, any close family member, or anyone I work for and am responsible to in my daily dealings, before any relationship and any responsibility, I live my life in surrender to Jesus Christ. I say ‘surrender’ because there is no other way I can truthfully call him Lord. So surrender it must be. And within that surrender, that yielding to his way of doing things and to his will, which I need to do quite consciously and affirm in so many words when I come to a prayer time such as this, I will be ready to pick up tips from him. His tips on how to relate to those I am most familiar with. I mean those I can easily forget to be on my best behaviour with. The ones I will have to say ‘sorry’ to most often. Here’s one tip I learn from Jesus: I will relate to them as he has related to me. That is, I will put myself at their service. I will want to see all the beauty and glory that is in them. Because he, the Lord of all things, has told me that he came to serve me and to give his life for me.
Lord Jesus, you said explicitly and unmistakably, ‘The Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’[1] Because you gave your life I have my life, redeemed, returned to God, renewed. May I look upon even those I see daily with new eyes, as people you freshly present to me, to be endearingly served. May my days among my family and those close to me be my meeting place with you.
[1] Mark 10:45