There is a difference between being a loving daughter and being a joyful daughter. You can love your mom, dad, and siblings, but are you joyful being with them? Usually, due to the fact that we have spent all of our lives with the people who make up our families, and due to the fact that we've seen all their down falls and short comings, we tend to dislike being with them. Instead of taking joy in the people the Lord has given us as our family, and appreciating the protection of our parents, and the friendship of our siblings, we tend to do all we can to be away from them. Preferring instead, to be with the friends we have outside our families. To be off doing what we want to do. "Living our own life" so to speak. Sisters, this is not what God had planned when He gave us our families. Our families should be the ones we go to in our joy and in our sadness, in our frustration and in our contentment. But we have lost the desire to share with our parents and our siblings because, "my parents don't understand me. They're so strict! They don't care how I feel. They never let me do anything." or "my sisters/brothers are SO irritating! I can't stand being with them all day!".
After we've spent our whole life with our family, we start to see only the ways in which they fall short. We cease to notice all the wonderful gifts and sacrifices your parents make for us. We brush our brothers and sisters aside when they want to be with us or play with us because "I have other things I want to do with my time. Quit being a pest. Stop following me around."
Now, quite naturally, we don't want anything to happen to any of the members of our family. We comfort and help them when they're sick or hurt. We would be devastated to loose any of them. You probably love each member of your family with your whole heart. So, if we love them, why don't we take joy in spending time with them?
We need to turn our hearts back to our families. Not just loving them, but taking joy in beiong with them, loving them for who they are, and loving to be with them. I'm not saying to stop spending time with your friends out side your family. I'm saying, make your family your best friends. Take joy in being with them. Be a joyful daughter as well as a loving daughter!
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! ~Psalm 133:1
1 comment:
Well said Leslie. What a joy it is for a parent to see the family living in joyful harmony. Being joyous is simply a decision that one must choose if they're going to ever be at peace.
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