Building Godly Families

Recently, I was helping my dad out at a teaching session that he was involved in for one of the networks. This was a course aimed at helping couples appreciate the differences between men and women and is based on the teaching material of Bill and Pam Farrell called, "Men are like Waffles, Women are like Spaghetti." That particular session my dad was taking was on parenting and he had called me along to share from the perspective of a child and also from my experience as a youth mentor.

It's always been my passion to see the next generation grow up to realise their destiny in Christ and so I readily agreed. I had the most enjoyable time sharing with was glad that I could be a blessing to those who were there. Just yesterday, my dad forwarded me an email from one of the ladies who was at the session. Her encouragement is really the point of this post and I hope you spend some time to read it. ... [+]

"Thank you for sharing your life. I am very blessed by it.

Last night it was so awesome! We were bewildered listening to Joshua telling his story of what it's like to live in a family where the principles being applied. His smile is so contagious! After we heard your earlier testimonies we know it is not out of the best circumstances that your children turn out so wonderful. It is simply the fruit of two lives that chose to live in the TRUTH, abide in GOD and allow Him to rule and reign (though you didn't explicitly said that, it was clearly implied).

This is undoubtedly God's SECRET WEAPONs prepared for a time like this - when all around us scream of Marriages Breaking Down, Family Dtysfunctioning, Children Beyond Parental Control: uniquely FCBC, STRONG FAMILIES.

It is with great confidence we can tell the world that when God says that the church has the solution for families, He doesn't just mean He has a set of secret manual the church can teach on. People are asking for REAL answers. So God authenticates His Word with His Work IN real people and THROUGH real people - FAMILIES. His way to SALVATION is to provide a SAVIOR, His way to strengthen FAMILIES is to provide FAMILIES.

Suddenly I have a new understanding on what it means "to present everyone perfect in Christ" - it is not when we no longer has flaws. When we present people whose lives are in Christ, God's grace so abound in us, His POWER making PERFECT our weaknesses.

We become so beautiful, so attractive, so admirable, so amazing, so abundant in life. People says, "I want the GOD they have".

Our lives are HIS MESSAGE."

Yes, we are not perfect. As humans, we are bound to make mistakes. But the amazing thing about life in Christ is that His grace and sovereignty extends far beyond what we can ever imagine. I echo this sister's thoughts that in a time like this, where we see many families crashing, where we see the values of our youths being eroded, we must rememer that there is great hope in Christ! Yes, we can build strong families in the Lord if commit ourselves to doing so.

This is the part that touched me most, “Suddenly I have a new understanding on what it means "to present everyone perfect in Christ" - it is not when we no longer has flaws. When we present people whose lives are in Christ, God's grace so abound in us, His POWER making PERFECT our weaknesses.... Our lives are His Message.”

We CAN and we NEED to make a difference by living our lives as a light and salt to those around us. Let's encourage and spur each other on to build Godly families that will inspire and transform others too. Let’s press on in building God’s kingdom on this earth!

Joshua Teo