Family Mistake

Good morning, Five Minute Families. Many families in America just enjoyed a long weekend with extended family. As families reunite, conversations abound about work, church, medical needs, social happenings, and more. The participants change a bit each year as we gather with new significant others, new children, and close personal friends. Each family is different but many of us want to show our best side to others. Family posters often read something along the lines of “In our family we share. We laugh a lot. // We always do our best. We have fun. We’re often loud and even silly. // We make mistakes because we’re real. We forgive each other. We say I’m sorry. // We give big hugs. We stick together. We show love.” Posters like that sound cute and all, but what happens when we do make those mistakes? Family life gets hard in those moments. And, those hard moments are hard enough when it is just a nuclear family. What happens when the extended family is involved? What happens, Five Minute Families, when a large portion of the family makes a mistake - a sinful mistake - that hurts a single member of the family? Let’s explore a specific example. In family community, often, someone more “in the know” fills others in about someone else’s life. Moments such as these are necessary and good to help us all stay connected, since there is not always time for us to speak individually at length with everyone. However, what will sometimes happen is that the sharing session becomes a gossip session. Once sin has entered in, it is tough to shut such situations down. So, let’s say your family didn’t heed the prompting of the Holy Spirit and a gossip session was held, and the family member who was discussed was hurt when they found out. What do you do now? 1. Take individual responsibility. One person cannot speak for everyone who participated in the wrongful behavior (in our example - gossip). But, each individual should do some soul searching and listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit that he or she takes responsibility