The other day in class we discussed the idea of having a mission statement for your family. In fact, it is an assignment and we are being required to create one. Our professor urged us as singles to consider what we want to prioritize in our future families. What will our values be? What will drive us? What do we want to pass down to our children?
This assignment has caused me to think quite a bit and although it started out with me considering my future family, it essentially got me thinking about who I am as a person. What do I prioritize in my life? What are my values? What drives me?
My values have changed a lot this semester. I have been rocked by my coursework in Seminary and my view of my relationship with God has been challenged and refined. I’ve realized that much of the time, my Christianity can be pretty self-serving. I spend altogether too much time thinking about myself. I’m consistently seeking God’s will for my future, hoping to make it through my education, to have the perfect family, and to work in ministry. I ask the Lord to help me to navigate through the stress in my life and draw me closer to Him. None of those are bad things. I should look to the Lord for guidance in those areas. But is my faith really all about me? What am I doing on a daily basis to impact others? What am I doing to bring others closer to the Lord?
When Jesus came to earth, his priorities were pretty clear, “To seek and to save the Lost” Luke 19:10. I’m starting to think bigger than myself or my future. My life is not my own. It’s His and my love for Him should compel me not to merely seek God for what He can do for me, but for how He can use me to reach others. As we go through our daily routines, we have so many opportunities to engage other people and share God’s love with them. I have walked through my life with blinders on, totally ignoring the fact that there are people I encounter every day that are broken and hurting and in desperate need of a savior. For this reason, I have begun to look outward and to ask God each day to make me aware of the opportunities He has placed in front of me to be the incarnation of the gospel I so readily proclaim.
These considerations will ultimately affect the kind of husband I will choose to spend my life with and the way we will decide to raise our children. As a single person right now, I can say that my family will be one that serves the Lord together. As parents we will model our faith to our children, in both our devotion to the Lord and our ministry unto the Lord. As a family, we will seek out opportunities to share the love of Christ with others, including our family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and acquaintances. My children will know what it means to be an authentic Christian because it will be walked out and not only talked about by their parents, and made evident through the love that they have for each other and everyone around them. That is who my family will be.
Being single isn’t a time to sit around and wait for your future spouse and for all your dreams to come true. My professor gave us this word of advice, “The only reason for anyone to get married is because they have done all that they can to glorify God as a single person and the only way they can glorify God any more is by marrying a godly man or woman and serving Him together.” This is a time for God to refine you and to develop godly characteristics in you that will ultimately not only affect your future, but that of your children.
This is a time for me to consider if the values that I have for my family are evident in my own life now. Am I growing every day in my intimacy with the Lord? One day I will have to submit to my husband. Am I submitting daily to the Lordship of Christ in my life? One day I hope to model my faith to my children. Am I modeling my faith to my family and friends and those around me? I desire to have a family that is ultimately driven by a desire to be known by God and make God known to others. Am I making God known to others today?
It is so vital that as Christians we are aware of our purpose, our calling, and our identity in Christ. It is essential that we evaluate our thoughts and actions, as well as our relationships with others, in light of who God says we are and his ultimate plan for us. If we do not have a clear vision for our life, it can be easy to get off track and miss the mark. I think that the following passage from Phil 3:12-21 (The Message Version) nicely sums up my point in all of this:
12-14 I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.
15-16So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you'll see it yet! Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it.
17-19Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal. There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I've warned you of them many times; sadly, I'm having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ's Cross. But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites.
20-21But there's far more to life for us. We're citizens of high heaven! We're waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He'll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.
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