Freeing Up Our Time, Part 3

If we’re going to treat our families as the mission field that they are, we must immerse ourselves in the family culture, just as we would if we were sent as missionaries to another country. We would never be effective witnesses for the Lord if we barely spent time interacting or speaking with the people we were sent to minister. We were given children to raise up godly believers for the Lord. How effective can we be in carrying out the Lord’s commandments if we spend so little time being a family?

It means actual physical presence in genuine discussion doing cooperative activities. Not cheering from the sidelines at the ball field, but throwing a Frisbee in the backyard together. Not dropping the children off at music lessons, but jointly tapping our toes at a concert. Not signing up for another activity, but enjoying mutual interests or exploring a new past time together.

Togetherness is a mindset, an attitude. We all have our individual friends and interests, but they should actually take a backseat to what we do as a family. Our well-roundedness, both individually and collectively, does not come at the sacrifice of being a family.

God ordained two institutions to carry out the generational discipleship of our children: the family and the church. If we're making sure we're acting like the family God wants us to be, we’ll have countless opportunities for witnessing and discipling our children in the truths of God. Which is what freeing up our time is all about.