Image credit: pixelsaway / 123RF Stock Photo

As Christians, we are called to be holy, set apart from the world, (in our actions and in our purpose):

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 1:29).

God’s purpose for us, that we are made in His image and should reflect His character, must inform our thinking and our living.  We can move toward a more intentional approach to life by developing a mission statement and values, for our family, that are based on biblical principles.

In our home, having a Family Mission Statement has been helpful in getting us all on the same page, setting goals and priorities, evaluating progress, and making decisions. Developing your Family Mission Statement and Values can be accomplished by working together, prayerfully.  You must:

• Determine the “Mission” for your family.  You mission should reflect your purpose, your vision of the future and your values (p. 85, Lead Like Jesus).  This should be a statement written in such a way that everyone in the family can easily understand and explain its meaning.

• Select three or four “Values” that support your mission (we looked at areas which needed strengthening in order to move toward godly living)

• Find three or four Bible verses that explain and validate your values.  These verses became the foundation of our memory work.  Memorizing the portions of the Word which addressed our “problem areas” was helpful in that it created correction shortcuts in parenting and also planted the Word in the hearts that needed it.  What a gift!  As parents we had the help we had always needed – the Holy Spirit and the Word were working together to change all of our hearts so we could accomplish our mission, which was “to glorify God in all that we do, remembering that each thought, word and action is our offering to God.”

We’ve found that a Family Mission Statement can be quite useful in bringing harmony into a home. Shared spiritual goals lead to learning to walk in His Way, together.  In addition, there are correction shortcuts for the children, as I have mentioned.  Meditating on the Word together is transformational because the Word is a powerful change agent.

There was an unintended benefit to pursuing the spiritual goals together as a family – Scott and I were able to clearly see where our example did not match up with the Word and with our expectations for our kids.  We couldn’t be “irritable or resentful” and lose our tempers with the kids, or each other, while expecting them to memorize and carry out 1 Cor 13:4-7…not without us becoming hypocrites:

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

This was the time period when I learned that parenting is an important part of God’s growth plan for me. Teaching my kids about the Lord’s standard, and holding them to it, was like holding up a mirror and seeing my own shortcomings.  We were all compelled to do what we were hearing in God’s Word.  We began to build our House upon the Rock.

Keeping the Word in the forefront of our minds, by hiding it in our hearts daily, resulted in an amazing changes in our family.  Organizing our family life around the LORD, and the Word, demonstrated to all of us that we were truly under the authority of God.  Next time we’ll talk more about the importance of taking hold of God’s Word via memory work.

Hugs,

Britta ~ I am justAgirl…just like me!