If Everything Is Right, Why Is Everything Wrong?

Dad, have you ever caught yourself asking this question: “My family is in church, my kids have a decent youth pastor, we are careful about entertainment, and my wife and I give to the church. There is much religious motion in our home, but there seems to be little religious passion. What’s the problem?”

Be careful how you, as God’s “point man” in your home, answer this question. The answer is not something else that you can add to your family; it is all about something you must be for your family. Your family needs for you to be exuberant at your very heart level in your walk with Christ. They must see you enjoying Him as your sole, daily treasure (Psalm 73:25). J. Oswald Sanders’ insight is sobering: “We can lead others only as far along the road as we ourselves have traveled. Merely pointing the way is not enough.”1

Here are some suggestions to help chart your Christward passion in 2007:

1. Personally read through the Bible.
2. Keep a family prayer journal.
3. Pray together weekly … even daily.
4. Read a Christian biography together.
5. Memorize a family verse for 2007.
6. Plan and take a family mission trip.