It took me time to decide what I wanted to write about for this first link-up. The only thing that kept coming to me stems from things that have happened in my family recently. We had two deaths in our family in two weeks. My uncle's mother, who was a big part of our family, and my grandfather.
I don't want this to be a sad post, and I promise this will connect with the theme of the link-up. :)
First of all, though we are sad to not have them with us any more, we are comforted to know that we will see them again:
"Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 NIV)
Secondly, I am reminded of how blessed my family is. We have always been very close. My cousins are more like my brothers and sisters than cousins. Even though we are grieving, we remember to celebrate the lives of these two people, rather than dwell on their deaths. We banded together with love to support one another.
Jesus said, “'A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.'" (John 13:34 NIV)
Sure, we're family. We're supposed to love each other any way, aren't we? Unfortunately, many families in society today do not get along. They don't love and support each other. We do. God gave us each other. Do we always agree? No. But we always love each other.
So, in that way, we are made in His image. Jesus also said, "'By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.'” (John 13:35 NIV)
4 comments:
Love surely is in the Image of God! I'm so sorry for the losses you've experienced. You're in my prayers! Thanks for linking up!
So sorry to hear about your recent losses Becky, but I absolutely love this post. Great linkup!
Sorry about the loss of your family members, but our loss is definitely Heaven's gain. You are right as a family we are made in the image of God to love and care for one another. I have not always been good at loving my flawed family when I see them through my own eyes, but when I try to see them through the eyes of Christ I see where I need to extend grace and love - Just like Christ extends to me.
Charity
The Word of A Nerd
So sorry for your loss, but so good knowing that they are with Jesus in heaven and you will see them again!
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