Day 15

Chapter Fifteen: Formed for God's Family

Every human being was created by God, but not everyone is a child of God. The only way that you get into God's family is by being born again into it. You became part of a the human family by your first birth, but you become a member of God's family by your second birth. -Rick Warren

What is interesting to me, is that prior to myself actually learning about God, and being born again I had an attitude of prejudice against those who claimed to be "born again". Most of that resentment came from ignorance...we fear what we do not know.

The rest came from the fact that in my upbringing Christians are regardeded with a certain degree of mistrust. The thought being that there aren't very many "true" Christians and those that my family has encountered 'seem' self righteous.

Albeit, there are many people who claim Christianity and who don't "act" like Christians. However, why is it that non Christians demand that Christians "act" a certain way, and do not hold themselves to the same standard? Being Christian doesn't mean that we are all of a sudden not human.

I find it interesting that the mistrust has guided my earthly family away from God rather than them seeking him in order to make a positive change.

Your spiritual family is even more important that your physical family because it will last forever. Our families on earth are wonderful gifts from God, but they are temporary and fragile, often broken by divorce, distance, growing old, and inevitabley death. On the other hand, our spiritual family--our relationship to other believers--will continue throughout eternity. It is a much stronger union, a more permanent bond, than blood relationships. -Rick Warren

Going back to what I had stated about my upbringing, I am not very close to my own family, however they were able to instill in me a general distrust of those who claim to be Christians. Therefore I am in a strange position. I want to meet other Christians who believe as I do, but I have this habit of being very critical and questioning of their Christian strengths. I am not saying that I am judging, I am saying that I am probably too observant. Wanting to find a crack in the armor. This of course ties into my own insecurities as a human being, and my desire to please God and habit of comparing myself to others.

In short, I haven't really made any practicing Christian friends. And the ones who I know are passionate about Christ usually annoy me for one reason or another. I still do not like to be preached at.

Point to Ponder: I was formed for God's family

Verse to Remember: Ephesians 1:5a His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us in to his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.

Question to Consider: How can I start treating othe believers like members of my own family?

This will be difficult for all of the reasons that I stated above. A major hang up because of my general distrust of the Christian population. It is a terrible thing to claim Christianity, and act opposite of what Jesus wants of us...especially hypocrisy. However, I suppose my distrust is hypocrisy in itself, and I do not like that at all...so I want to change this way of thinking.

Therefore, I will need to draw closer to other Christians instead of pushing them away. Perhaps I should focus on those who I already do know...and work on those relationships instead of keeping them at arms length.