Family Ties: Blessings & Bondage

God designed the family. In His infinite creativity & love, He set forth a blueprint of a man & a woman joining in a covenant & raising children together. He calls Himself our Father (2 Cor 6:18) & Galatians 6:10 refers to us as a household of faith. The bonding & unity of the family dynamic was & is still, central to God's kingdom plan.

Yet, because of sin, our flesh, free will & our enemy; families suffer. Divorce, abuse, abandonment, indifference & addiction all play a part in the damaging of the family unit. No families escape spiritual warfare. Fallible human beings fail each other. Tragedies can tear us apart. Death, sickness/malfunction, disappointment & hardship can either strengthen a family or destroy it.

Even when families remain intact, there is still a renewal process needed to take place, so the family will reflect the glory, order & character of God. Psalm 127 says that unless the Lord builds a house, its' builders labor in vain. If God doesn't become the foundation of the home, there will be disorder, dysfunction & eventually; collapse. His word & the Holy Spirit provide what is needed to rebuild any family, through obedience.

Jesus said loving others is showing we love Him. In our families, we are to display this love, according to His teaching. When we refuse to learn new ways of relating to each other; His ways, the blessing of the family becomes bondage. Rebellion (witchcraft), idolatry (stubbornness), familiar spirits & curses will continue destructive patterns that Jesus died to free us from - 1Sam 15:23, Lev 20:6, Ex 20:5, Gal 3:13. Our enemy, who's mission is stealing, killing & destroying; seeks to keep the family locked in old thinking & behaving, so we will not be free. If the Christian family remains in just as much bondage & destruction as the world, we have not transformed, but been conformed to it (Romans 12:2). Although, pain will continue to be a part of this life, we can overcome heal & learn better. We can choose the fruitful pain of obedience, which changes things. The Holy Spirit helps us. Any family can heal.

Demolishing strongholds clears the way for a new, firm foundation.

"We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning & to destroy false arguments", 2 Cor 10:4. In order for the new foundation to be formed, the old has to go. This is a scary, messy & lengthy process, but is the only way to start over. Some relationships will shift dramatically. Some will be temporarily or permanently broken. Idolatrous relating (codependency) & refusing to operate out of shame, guilt & fear will feel like un-chartered territory. Our flesh will fight to return to the the familiar. The spirit of fear & doubt will cause us to question ourselves. God's ways, however; are powerful & able to override all our painful history. Faith, repentance, obedience & Godly fear are the weapons that destroy the old way of doing things, so the new can be built.

With Jesus as our cornerstone, we can mature & function as the whole, fearless, boldly loving people we were created to be. Families can learn new ways to communicate & relate to each other. Healing order can replace abuse & dysfunction. The pain of dying to former things will give birth to a new, healthier family dynamic. Allow the Holy Spirit to reconstruct your family. He is merciful, wise & kind. Jesus was a carpenter - which means He loves taking dead things and creating something beautiful & useful with them. May you accept the grace to allow the painful, but worthy process of rebuilding your home, in Jesus' name.

Sound Mind Awareness, Veronica Jimenez all rights reserved.