“To Titus, a true son in our common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.”
Memory verse: “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” I Corinthians 12:26
At a very young age as a child, I noticed that my mother not only had so many people around her but I also realised they all had something in common; They all always prayed together and even more confusing for me as a child when they would address my mother as “mum”, “aunty” “Sister” and some other names. This kept me wondering, does mother really have a huge family and why do they always pray together? As I grew I started understanding that mother has her blood related family and her spiritual family hence why all the names by people with whom we are not blood related.
Many Christians are like my mother, they build a spiritual family outside their blood line, a family which merges together through the blood of Jesus, becoming one big family. The spiritual family operates more like the physical family but in recent times when we look closely, we realise there has been a misplaced definition of what a true “spiritual family” is. There is a decline in the understanding of how the spiritual family works and people have become social gatherers rather than a family of Christ and this calls for urgent attention.
Are you part of a legitimate spiritual family? Then count yourself lucky because you are in a family that is accountable to God. The spiritual family is founded in God, submits to God, His biblical teachings and kingdom principles. Today we see Apostle Paul refer to Titus as a true son. Without doubt we know Titus was not Paul’s flesh and blood but Apostle Paul considered him a spiritual child bounded through Christ. Through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross of Calvary and the oneness it brings in terms of salvation, all believers have become and are united in one family which is the family of Christ.
Your spiritual family has the opportunity to encourage you in ways your flesh and blood might not be able to. Not everyone is in a family who strongly believe in God and are born again and sometimes it could be a struggle to share common understanding when it comes to biblical principles. Unlike the physical family where we have no choice in deciding what family we are born into, we have a choice when it comes to picking our spiritual family. For legitimate Christians, the choice is based on a common goal which is “rearing followers of Christ and experiencing the presence and power of God”.
If one member of the spiritual family is impacted negatively then the impact hits all members of the family, where this is not the case, you may be positioned with the wrong family and need to check for where there is oneness, people share each other’s burdens through the love of Christ, Acts 2:40-46.
Spiritual families varies but most importantly as part of the family, we all have a duty to love & care for one another, John 13:34, rebuke & forgive one another with love, Luke 17:3-4 and guide each other where necessary on how to live out the Christian life in the church and community. Our Christians family is there to encourage our personal relationship with God.
Christ had his spiritual family and we see that as the head of the family, Christ helped his disciples grow in various ways which impacted their lives positively. Christians today are a product of the spiritual family which Christ built during his time on earth.
Are you part of a God directed spiritual family or are you in a fun circle assuming it’s a spiritual family? Beware not all families who claim to be spiritual families are led by God, some families have changed or lost direction and as part of the family it is important to understand your family.
PRAYERS:
- Father I thank you for your grace and blessings over my life
- Thank you for your blood shed on the cross of Calvary to give me everlasting life
- Help me from today to be a propagator of your gospel, be a good example to other believers and associate myself with legitimate family of Christ.
- Forgive me of my shortcomings o Lord and help me to live above sin
- Receive my sacrifice of praise for in Jesus mighty name I pray, AMEN.
