Listen to this devotion
Blending Families: Yours, Mine, and Ours
In the Word
Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor (1 Corinthians 10:24).
Of the Word
You can choose your friends, but you're stuck with your family. That feeling of being "stuck" is sometimes heightened in a family that is considered "blended." Bringing together two people with different histories, traditions, and habits is hard enough; adding children to the mix can be as challenging as matching a dryer full of socks! Each member of a blended family is faced with the same challenge of getting along.
Our sinful nature causes us to look only to ourselves and our own interests. We tend to look on life and say, "I want it my way. Why do I have to share anything?" In Christ, however, we do not live our lives for ourselves. We see family members (regardless of how we "get" them) as gifts from God. As Christ did, we set aside our own need to be continually satisfied and instead work for the good of others. While it is not easy, with the help of God's Holy Spirit, it is how we live.
Walking with my Lord
Dear Creator of families, You place us in families that sometimes are a challenge. Give us strength to look past our own needs to see the blessing You give us in them. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Mustard Seed: With this Ring. Authors: Rev. Wes and Deaconess Sonja Baumeister. 15/28 ©2008 Lutheran Women's Missionary League, 801 Seminary Place Ste. L010, St. Louis, MO 63105. www.lwml.org
Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
