Simon Cox Blog: 20 Truths from Family Life of a Christian Leader, by Ajith Fernando

Friday, 29 July 2016

20 Truths from Family Life of a Christian Leader, by Ajith Fernando

Joy is not complete until it is shared.

1. Belief is one of the basic values of Christianity and it applies to every area of life. (9)

2. It goes without saying that the greatest desire of Christian leaders for the members of our families is that they become God’s children and follow him. (10)

3. One of the most obvious signs of the primacy of God in the Christian home is prayer. (14)

4. After 38 years of marriage and countless counseling appointments, I have come to realize that what most often takes away the joy and peace of our homes is the refusal to crucify self. (16)

5. If we are causing hurt and unhappiness in our family life because of some problem on our part, we must regard it as an urgent matter that requires immediate attention. (21)

6. A key aspect of the biblical understanding of love is that love is an end in itself and not simply a means to an end. (22)

7. It is very easy for couples to take each other for granted and in the process to overlook expressing their love and concern for each other. (26)

8. One of the most important areas of growth in the Christian life is that of learning to accept God’s overflowing love for us. (31)

9. We must not neglect difficult and time-consuming projects relating to the family because we are very busy with ministry responsibilities. (33)

10. If our spouses do not see us as looking at them as beautiful, it’s we who have failed, not they. (35)

11. Joy is not complete until it is shared. (47)

12. Big hearted people would give in to the will of another without acting immature and insisting on their way. (58)

13. Those who are afraid to apologize have not understood grace. This makes them so weak that they do not have the strength to apologize. (68)

14. Love is costly, but we don’t dwell on the cost, because we know it is a beautiful thing we want to do and for which it is well worth paying the cost. (74)

15. Having hundreds of friends on Facebook could leave us with less time to nurture deep and intimate relationships we have with those who are closest to us. (85)

16. Our children face great handicaps as a result of growing up in a culture where people are compared and contrasted with others and where others progress by cutting them down. (86)

17. With all the rejection that people face in this hostile world, the home should be a place of affirmation and acceptance. (87)

18. We must not forget that discipline is actually an expression of love, and that fact must shine through in our disciplining. (90)

19. Children should know that their fathers pray for them daily and that when they have some need the father, not only the mother, is going to pray for it. (92)

20. We ask our children to pray and read their Bible every day because that is good for them; not because they are children of Christian leaders. (94)