Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.
Ephesians 1:11
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Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Colossians 3:12
Chose. That word says so much. Here are a couple of definitions that I found for this word; looking at the definition helps me to better understand the full impact of the meaning of a word.
- To want; desire.
- Make a deliberate decision: to make a deliberate decision to do something
We can’t choose our earthly family, we are gifted (doesn’t always feel like it but yes) with them by God; they are genetically ours. We love them for their good characteristics and pray them through their bad; as my son says “you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.” This principle can be easily applied to our earthly families because, like Teresa said, these relationships are tangible, we can see the connections and they are sometimes easier to grasp than the concept of a spiritual family, whose connections we cannot see with our eyes.
Our spiritual family is different. It’s a family chosen by God; we’re related by blood,—but not flesh and blood like siblings are related—but by the blood of the Lamb.
We don’t choose our family in this life, but God chose us. He picked each and every one of us. If nothing else this gives us reassurance that we are part of the I AM’s family; take confidence that He wanted us! He knew our past, present, and futures and still chose us.
He desires to have a relationship with us. He made a deliberate decision to call us into His family.
There’s something that Teresa wrote that truly touched my heart: “When it comes to our spiritual family, we like to pick and choose.” We walk around life looking at those around us, questioning why we have to accept them, and questioning why God chose them. They may have hurt us, we may know things about their past, and we may wonder why we have to accept them. I know I have been guilty of this.
Look at Colossians 3:12 again…and see how we are to interact and love our spiritual family:
Tenderhearted – Merciful – Kind – Walking in Humility – Gentle – Patient
Why?
Because He chose you. Because He chose me.
Because we are the family of The Great I AM.
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Let’s Pray:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for choosing me despite my past, despite my present, and despite what my future holds that does not live up to Your word. Lord, please give us the hearts to accept our spiritual family as You have accepted and chosen us. Lord, please guide us and give us the opportunities to walk with a tender heart, with mercy, in kindness, with humility, gently, and with patience. Help us to embrace that we are a part of Your family. Thank You, Father. In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen