Photo by Bob Vanderford

If you want to have success in your business, you know you need to look to God first. There is no surprise in realizing that you need to look for your family second. Without their help, you will get nowhere fast.

 This is the written account of Adam’s family line. When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. Genesis 5:1

We start by one of the commandments “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. Exodus 20:12

So what does the Bible say about family? The physical family is the most important building block to human society, and as such, it should be nurtured and protected. The defining characteristic of this spiritual family is love for one another: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another“ People around you learn from your example.

Even Christ himself was born within the context of a family. "God in the flesh" submitted to an earthly mom and dad to model what it means to honor parents and to benefit from their loving direction. It was within the nurturing care of His earthly family that "Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men"

Our children need to know that God has a special purpose for placing them within a family Our children learn from our modeling.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hope, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 This patience is integral to you communicating with your family, staff, and customers. If we do everything with love we know it will be the best that we can be and that we are honouring God.

Jesus’ second commandment was, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. God’s benevolent concern for humankind. All religions have some idea of the importance of love. Christian theology stresses the importance of love because God has revealed that he is love. Love is both what God is and what he has done; God always acts in love. How do you show your love?

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord

By definition, a father is a man who has begotten a child. This verse tells us that fathers are to bring up their children in the teachings of the Lord and to not “provoke them to wrath,” or, badger and shame them until they hate their father.

Love in the Bible, as in our everyday usage, can be directed from person to person or from a person to things. As with things, loving persons may mean simply enjoying them and taking pleasure in their personalities, looks, achievements, etc. But there is another aspect of interpersonal love that is very important in the Bible. There is an aspect of love for persons who are not attractive or virtuous or productive. In this case, love is not a delight in what a person is, but a deeply felt commitment to helping him be what he ought to be. Love needs to come out of everything we say and do.

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13

Anne Lamott famously declared, “Forgiveness is giving up all hope of having had a different past.” Besides the reward of letting go of a painful past, there are powerful health benefits that go hand-in-hand with the practice of forgiveness. Forgiveness is associated with lower heart rate and blood pressure as well as overall stress relief. It is also associated with improving physical symptoms, reducing fatigue, and improving sleep quality. How do you deal with difficult co-workers or clients?

Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1 Timothy 5:8

The family is not totally restricted to your spouse and offspring but we are also talking about extended family and dare I say it the family of God. Which is everyone.

During His three-year ministry, Jesus shattered some prevailing notions of what it meant to be part of a family: "While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, ‘Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.’ He replied to him, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ Pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother’” Success is predicated by loving God first, family second and then others.

In conclusion:

The Bible doesn’t say God has love; it says God is love.

 

God created the entire universe. He created this planet; he created the human race. Then, he created you because he loves you.

 

God’s good news is that he loves you on your good days as much as he loves you on your bad days. He loves you when you can feel his love, and he loves you when you can’t seem to feel his love. He loves you regardless of whether or not you think you deserve his love.

 

So if we treat everyone in this same manner, every situation, every connection, every interaction will be better. Maybe not perfect, maybe not the way we want the outcome to be, but better and we will know that we did what God our father wanted us to do.