It's A REAL Family Tradition

I Corinthians 10:23 “Everything is permissible – but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible – but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”

People often ask me is it ok to have some sin in their lives AND be a Believer at the same time. My answer is that  they are asking two different questions. These two items do not go together.

If the believer is being the BELIEVER then there is no question to begin with. The verse above explains this clearly. We can ‘do’ anything we want; but it may not be good for us. If however, we are trying to be a living testimony; then we must keep our walk in Christ right because others are paying attention to our lives.

The question above comes from one who is in the flesh. They are not walking in the Spirit and seeking God. This person is really seeking what their flesh desires and finding a way to justify that. This person wants to find a way to serve themselves and also serve God.

When the BELIEVER is walking in the Spirit; the soul is seeking the Lord and being fed and saturated by the Word; the Instruction Manual for this life!

The damage of entertaining the world while claiming to be a believer is where the problem lies. A person like this become a stumbling block for others and may prevent them from believing the Lord! Not only this; but their ‘earthly family tradition’ is completely opposite of God’s Family Tradition.

I think that Hank Williams Jr. says it best in the chorus of one of his songs:

“Hank why do you drink?
(Hank) why do you roll smoke?
Why must you live out the songs that you wrote?
over and over everybody made my prediction
so if i get stoned and drink all night long
It’s a family tradition”

If we, the BELIEVERS in Christ are going to carry on a ‘REAL Family Tradition’ it must be one that edifies our brothers and shapes us into the image of Christ! The ‘family tradition’ that Hank talks about in this song is one of earthly desire and feeding the flesh. It leads to nowhere and is going in the opposite direction of following the Lord.

Jesus walked this earth and lived a Sinless Authentic Life for His Father – God. 12 men watched Him live it and they lived under His teaching. Their lives took on new meaning and they took the example of Christ and spread the Gospel across the world. They lived out the REAL Family Tradition! We should want the same thing. This is what Jesus came for; to show us how to live. To set a pattern for us.

God teaches us and gives us the keys to living the BELIEVERS LIFE in the Bible and desires that we love our Family enough (God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit) to live out the REAL Family Tradition. God’s Family is the one we were adopted into when we got saved - like it says in the following passage! God chose us to live out His Family Tradition through Jesus!

                                                                                   

In Ephesians 1:1-8 says “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to be the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”

The ‘Family Tradition’ that matters here is the one that leads to eternity. The other one leads to defeat, heartache and possibly Hell. God has ‘adopted’ us into His Family and gives us the way that we ought to live.

Our LOVE for God should ALWAYS outweigh any worldly desire we may have. We are to ALWAYS think of God first and desire to live that out. When we are living this way there is no question and no stumbling block for others! We become STRONG in the Lord and do not desire the flesh. We desire instead a relationship with Christ that helps us understand that through Him we can do all things!

God’s ways are so beautiful in that His Word teaches to LOVE more than anything else and when we are doing that; there is NO ROOM for these other snares in life. It is a beautiful thing to be FREE of these kinds of thoughts and questions that clutter up the mind!

God’s Love is what draws men to the Lord. Live out the FAMILY TRADITION so that everyone around you sees it and wants to be part of the family! It could mean the difference in their lives…and which family tradition they live out.

Jeremiah 31:3 says “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with lovingkindness.”

You see our ‘Family Tradition’ is that we are following Christ and loving others to the Cross to find Salvation! If we are doing that there are no questions!

Some may argue their fleshly point; but everyone longs to fill their soul and know the Truth and the Bible says that the TRUTH WILL SET US FREE! The kind of family tradition spoken about in that song above is one that leads in the opposite direction from the TRUTH.

Your FAMILY TRADITION is worth sharing with others so that they will see the Lord. The best testimony you could ever live out in this life is the REAL FAMILY TRADITION that God has given you, the believer! Share it today with someone else!