Take Care of Your Spiritual Family
By Rick Warren
“Do not rebuke an older man [in the church] harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.” 1 Timothy 5:1-2 (NIV)
If you follow Jesus, you can’t just care about your own family. You must also care about God’s family—your spiritual family.
Who is your spiritual family? It’s your brothers and sisters in the family of God.
Jesus said, “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:50 NIV). That means, if you follow Jesus, you and I are related! God’s grace through Jesus Christ bonds us together as family. You’ve heard the old phrase, “Blood is thicker than water.” That’s true! But grace is thicker than genetics.
A letter to some of the first Christians says, “Do not rebuke an older man [in the church] harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity” (1 Timothy 5:1-2 NIV). God wants you to see other people in the body of Christ as your spiritual fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters.
The Bible tells us Jesus had a biological family and grew up with brothers and sisters. In fact, he had four half-brothers and at least two half-sisters—they were Mary and Joseph’s other children. They show up many times in Scripture, watching Jesus do miracles and trying to talk him out of doing certain things. One of Jesus’ half brothers, James, actually wrote the book of James in the Bible.
But, as Jesus was dying, he did not entrust the care of his mother to any of his half-brothers or half-sisters. He entrusted her to John, his beloved disciple. Why is that? John 7:5 says that none of Jesus’ siblings had become believers yet. They were among the many people who didn’t recognize Jesus as the Son of God until after the Resurrection. It wasn’t until later in life that James became one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem.
Jesus entrusted his mom to the care of John because John was already a mature believer. John was his spiritual family, with closer ties through the bonds of grace than even the blood relation to his biological family.
God has designed his family of faith to be the same for you. You can have closer bonds with your fellow Christians than you might even have with your own family. And those close bonds should lead you to take particularly good care of your spiritual family.
Galatians 6:10 says, “Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith” (NLT).
Always do whatever you can to help people in need. But pay special attention to those within your own spiritual family.
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick
For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!
Be Encouraged Each Day to Live Out God’s Purposes
As thanks for your gift below to help share the gospel with more people around the world through Daily Hope, we’ll send you Pastor Rick’s new book, Daily Hope Devotional: 365 Days of Purpose, Peace, and Promise.
Each devotional starts out with a Bible verse, followed by teaching that explains God’s Word and shows you how to apply it daily so you can face any challenge and live the life you were created to live.
As a special bonus when you give, we’ll also send you What's Driving Your Life?: A 10-Day Turnaround for a Fresh Start. Featuring 10 hand-picked devotions from Pastor Rick’s new book, they’ll guide anyone feeling stressed, worried, or discouraged toward seeking God for a fresh start.
Request your copy below when you give—and take the first step towards a year of real purpose, lasting peace, and unfailing promises.
Thank you for your partnership!
*The USA IRS code permits you to deduct the amount of your financial gift to Daily Hope that exceeds the fair market value of materials you received from Daily Hope.
This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
You can listen to Rick Warren on OnePlace.com.