《麦子》85期 / 文：JS Pau
The essence of Jesus Christ’s teaching is ‘God is Love’. God commanded His people to love Him and love others as we love ourselves. None of us would ever hate ourselves. It is a command from God to love Him and others. We can reflect our love to God by loving people around us – our family, friends, colleagues, church mates and everyone around the world. To love everyone is a command that is easier said than done. I would like to share about building our families with love.
God blesses me with a loving husband, two wonderful children and a fulfilling career. I believe it is my purpose to raise God fearing children and to build a family who serves God with humility. At the same time, I have been responding to God’s calling to serve in church choir. Having so many hats to wear at the same time in this season of my life, there are a lot of tasks that I have to accomplish every day. My day-to-day tasks include preparing meals, cleaning and organizing our living space, sending children to school, tutoring children, bonding with my husband and children, doing vocal exercises, improving my musical skill, completing my tasks at work and so on. Each of the task demands my time, energy and resources. The fact of the matter is that we have a finite number of hours each day, limited mental capacity and physical durability. In addition to that, we have emotions. We may feel that we could have more hours to do more, better or we may feel weary to stay on top of all tasks – this is the reality of life.
1 John 4: 20 states, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” In other words, ‘If we do not love our family whom we can see, how can we love God whom we cannot see?’
The bible describes us as foreigners and exiles of this world (1 Peter 2: 11). Even though life is not easy, I find peace whenever I choose to trust God’s word and to obey His command. Whenever I think of how God manifested His love through saving me from my sin and how much protection He has given in my life, I feel grateful. I am living in flesh but in my heart, there is God who shows Agape love. In me, there is an infinite source of love. In 1 Corinthians 13: 1, Paul said, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal”. Things in our lives can become very routine and we can do all things on autopilot mode. Nonetheless, there are still point in time when we feel overwhelmed by hiccups and new challenges. If we accomplish all necessary tasks for our families but do not have love, we are only resounding gongs or clanging cymbals. But, we want to live a meaningful and purposeful life! Let us reprogram our thinking and be assured that God’s love strengthen our mind, our spirit and our muscles to conduct work in our lives.
As a mother, I have been through a period of life where it is all about taking care of children and merely doing what is required to survive. As I see my children growing, I see God’s image in them and also human’s sinful nature – babies cry, toddlers have tantrum and young children occasionally disobeying parents. Working mother have to juggle family and career. Sometimes, we may feel disappointed with ourselves when we regret blowing up in front of our children. We may feel upset because we missed out on reading stories to our children when we are too exhausted from work. We may feel discouraged when we want to be a better mom and wife, but we feel powerless to change. Dear all mothers, this is okay, as long as we trust God and His words.
We were disappointed but we find hope in God. We can trust Him.
We were upset but we find true joy in God. We can do all things with a joyful heart.
We were discouraged but God is our refuge and strength. Through Him, we can do all things with love.
I hope that my sharing is able to enlighten mothers who need encouragement, support and motivation. God has commanded us to love Him and to love others. Most importantly, to love our families. I trust that God had created us and allowed us to be in our current situation with a purpose. I believe God has a calling for each and everyone one of us. To love God and our families, let us first trust that it is possible for each one of us to do a little bit more for God in our families – start family worship, help your children to remember bible verses, serve in a ministry in church, pray for each family member or simply do our daily tasks with a loving heart. Mothers, we can love God and build our families with love.