LOVING GOD MORE THAN FAMILY
The Scripture shows how greatly God loves us (John 3:16; John 15:13). And the Scripture provides the basis for us to examine our love for God relative to our love for other things—including our family? All Scripture is given by God that we might be inspired to have acceptable loving relationships with God and others: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart” and love others [including family] as you love yourself” (Matthew 22: 37-39; 2 Timothy 16-17).
LOVE OF ADAM AND EVE. Genesis 3 reveals that Adam, the first man, had more love for his wife than for God. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from a tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden lest they die the day they ate from it. Eve was deceived by a serpent in the Garden and ate from the forbidden tree. When Eve handed Adam fruit which God told them not to eat, Adam was not deceived, but he ate the fruit instead of obeying the Lord. Both were separated from God the day they disobeyed God; and they died spiritual, while the process of physical death was set in motion (Ephesians 2:1-5; Hebrews 9:27).
Yet, God, in his great love, did not abandon Adam and Eve and their descendants. God planned before he created Adam and Eve to redeem mankind through the atoning death of Jesus Christ his only begotten Son (John 3:16; Revelation 13:8).
LOVE OF ABRAHAM. God tested Abraham to see if he loved God more than the son that God gave him. Abraham had already obeyed God by leaving many of his kinfolk to travel to an unknown land promised by God (Genesis 12:1-4). Now the Lord was asking Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac to God on an altar. Abraham trusted that God would keep his promise to bless him and many nations through Isaac (Genesis 17:4,19). Abraham said, “God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering” (Gen. 22:8). Abraham was about to slay Isaac on an altar, when and angel of the Lord stopped him. God provided Abraham with a lamb to sacrifice instead. (Genesis 22:1-14). God had promised Abraham that through his blood line starting with Isaac many nations would be blessed.
Jesus Christ said Abraham “rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad” ( John 8:56). The day of Jesus is the time in which God manifested his great love in sacrificing his only begotten Son like an innocent lamb, to atone for the sins of the world (Isaiah 53:5-97; John 3:16).
LOVE OF A “FOLOWER” OF JESUS. A man recognized that Jesus was Lord, but wanted to remain with his father until he died, rather than follow the Lord. Jesus told him, follow me now, and let the dead [the spiritually dead are those who not repentant followers of Christ] bury the dead (Matthew 8:21-22; Ephesians 2:4-5).
The Lord created family to love one another. But he said: “Anyone who loves their father or mother…son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37).
CHECKING OUT YOUR LOVE FOR GOD AND FAMILY
Relationships in a healthy family are generally close, as God created them to be. But in being close there is the possibility, perhaps unwittingly, one might love someone in the family more than they love the Lord. It seems wise to check one’s self out as David, “a man after God’s own heart” did: “Search me O God, and know my heart…See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). You might pray and ask that the Holy Spirit, whom the Lord has given us as our Helper, to help us love Jesus more than your whole family—To love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind. (Matthew 22: 37-39).
