Love Your Tribe ... The Good, Bad And The Ugly
Dec 28, 2021
1 Timothy 5:8 NIV - Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Over the holidays, from Christmas to New Years, our families gather. It's the good, bad and the ugly.
It's our tribes and there are discussions about everything under the sun.
- Politics
- Covid
- Joe Biden
- Trump
- Economy
- Wokeness
- Globalism
- Careers
- Faith
- Family who weren't there
- Relationships
- Bragging
- Fears
- Relationships
- Parents
- Food, food and more food
Something that really stood out to me was the disparity between the HAVES and the HAVE-NOTS.
On Health - While most of our tribe enjoys good health, some don't. And the have-nots struggled through the pain of their conditions while we gathered together.
On Finances - Some in our tribe are doing really well. New careers, promotions, raises ... we celebrated their successes. Especially the millennials, it's great to see them prosper. But in our gathering, one would have to be blind or totally self-absorbed not to see the financial suffering of the have-nots of our tribe.
On Love and Joyfulness - Get any tribe together and you'll hear griping and complaining. I was amazed at the level of love, joy and gratefulness from those who had the most to complain about ... but chose not to. They have something the complainers have-not.
On Faith - Get any tribe together and you'll see those who have spiritual fruit (love) on their tree, and those who have-not.
In any gathering there are times when I'm holding court, driving the conversation, and other times when I'm sitting back, listening, observing and noticing the disparity between the Haves and the Have-Nots.
Here are some of my holiday gathering takeaways.
- Commit To Honor Your Parents. We all have them, let's honor them while they're still with us. Love them. Help them. Suffer for them. Serve them. Respect them. Take care of their financial need as if their needs were your needs. Do what you can. Love them the way you want to be loved.
- Develop Empathy, Love and Compassion for your entire tribe. Some have. Some have-not. You may not like everybody, but love everybody. Love is an action.
Ephesians 6:2-3 NIV - “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
1 Timothy 5:8 NIV - Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Our tribes are important. Love them deeply. Pray for them deeply. The good, bad and the ugly.
-Gerald
