FAMILY IT! — Wednesday Family Devotional — “Gentle in Our Time”

We have a pokey puppy at our house.  It’s not an actual dog—it’s my son, Noah.  He is an incredibly fast boy when it comes to actual running, but in almost every other area, he goes at a pretty slow pace…especially when it comes to eating.  It can take him forty-five minutes to put away a simple sandwich and chip lunch.  After a recent two-week stay with my parents he was declared the Champion of Slow Eating.  I gave him a piece of Halloween candy for dessert yesterday.  It was Fun Size Milky Way, so all of two inches in length.  I looked over fifteen minutes later and he was still holding half of it!  (Needless to say, his fingers were a melty chocolate mess.)  

What makes this pokiness even more…noticeable…is the fact that I tend to run at a high speed.  Not literally, of course—that’s laughable!  But I naturally move through my tasks and to-do’s at a fairly rapid pace.  So the contrast between how I run and how my son runs can create a little bit of tension.  While I want him to be able to go through life at his own speed, there are times I need him to pick up the pace!  I can only imagine how many times he hears me say, “Come on, buddy, let’s go.”

What about your family?  Do you have any pokey puppies?  Are they universally pokey, or just in certain areas?  Who are your family’s energizer bunnies, want to move at the speed of light?  Now here’s the real question: are the other family members patient?  Assess yourself, then ask the slow-pokes to weigh in.  Do they think you’re patient?  What makes it easy/difficult to be patient with people who move through life at a different pace?

We’re continuing our journey through Ephesians as we begin chapter four this week.  Have a member of your family read Ephesians 4:1-16 (or vs 1-7 for younger families).

I really like the beginning part of this passage.  Paul really drives home the idea of the unity or togetherness we have as believers.  We all serve the same one God and are guided by the same one Holy Spirit.  We are blessed by the same one hope that Christ gives us.  We are all a part of the same one family: Christians.  

Yet even in the midst of all this unity, there are differences.  Look at verse 7: “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”  As Jesus pours out His grace, we get to experience it in unique ways based on our current and future needs.  Then jump down to verse 11.  We don’t all have the same gifts or talents or callings.  Some are high-energy apostles and evangelists, while others are more methodical shepherds and teachers.  Different, but together.

Whether it’s in church, at home, school, the office, we can get pretty impatient with people who operate differently than we do.  Maybe they have different skills.  Maybe it’s different beliefs.  They may be chatty while you prefer things quiet.  Neat v messy.  Random v organized.  All of these differences can create tension and an atmosphere of impatience or intolerance. 

But have someone reread verse 2.  What words jump out at you?  Humility.  Gentleness.  Patience.  Love.  These all go together, families.  If we’re going to be the gentle families that Jesus is calling us to be, we must master the principle of patience.  We must learn how to “bear in love” with those who are different from us.  In our homes.  In our Christian family.  In our community.  The love we have for the people around us should overpower that impatient foot-tapping.  It should drown out the internal screams of frustration.  The love we have, the love that is rooted in our Savior, Jesus Christ, the love that comes from the grace He’s given each of us, has to power we need to be humble and gentle and patient.

So…who do you need to be more patient with?  Is it someone around the table?  Someone you’ll see tomorrow?  What can you do to be more patient?  End your time together in prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to help you be a gentle, patient family.