Jesus, meet my Unbelieving Family

Chris Daukas @ http://newattitude.org has an article entitled "Jesus, meet my Unbelieving Family" with things to keep in mind:

"Applying the gospel means remembering our condition before God, His compassionate mercy to us in our sin, and then humbly responding to the sins of our family with the same compassion".

Sins to Guard Against

• anger.

James 4:1 says, “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel” (ESV).

• arrogance. Arrogance is a form of self-righteousness – it’s when you exercise a moral superiority over another person. It’s evaluating their behavior without the recognition of your sinfulness toward God.

Romans 3:10-11 says, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God” (ESV). This includes us, as well as our unbelieving family, apart from the grace of God through the gospel!

• apathy. Apathy is the desire to ignore the issue, with hopes of it disappearing. You start checking out in your heart and grow cold toward your family. Maybe you find yourself wanting to be around your family less and less and with your Christian friends more and more.

we are called by God to be ambassadors for Christ, bringing the message of reconciliation (2 Cor 5).

Hope to Hold On To