'Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, The Lord is one. You shall love The Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.' Deut 6 v 4-7.
This is the passage that comes to my mind when I am asked about witnessing in the home. Whilst they clearly speak of our witness to our children, I think that they could apply to anyone we live with as the verses talk very specifically about the totality of our lives, particularly within our homes. In thinking about living a 'missional life' a previous blog posting suggested that we needed to do three things; love Jesus, love people and love life. So how do these verses in Deuteronomy help me to do that particularly with relevance to those with whom I live?
Firstly, I need to love God with all my heart. Those living with us see us up close and personal. They know exactly what is important to us, what our hearts love. They know if we get angry because the washing up hasn't been done, there are dirty footprints everywhere or the wet towel is still lying on the bathroom floor. They hear us grumbling over something that happened at work, over the behaviour of other drivers or whether or not the preacher was any good this morning. However, they may also see us on our knees, accept our apologies and watch how we go out of our way to love others. My life needs to be authentic, characterised with honesty about my failings and my daily reliance on Gods grace.
Secondly, I need to love those around me by teaching them these words from Deuteronomy. But what is it that I am teaching? That they need to love God with all their heart, soul and might. And how do they learn this? One way may be as we try to model lives of repentance, humility and faith and another may be as we actively love them. Christ demonstrates His love for us in humility, service and sacrifice and He can enable us to love others in this way. Loving those we live with doesn't always come easily; we are sinners, they are sinners! The bible says we need to be trained to love our husbands and children, (Titus 2 v 3-5). I would encourage you to enlist an older Christian, talk about the issues and ask them to pray with and for you. Spend some time thinking about each of those you live with; what makes them tick, what they enjoy doing and how they feel loved. Then think and plan ways in which you can love that person better; for example my daughter always feels loved when I play a game with her, it doesn't have to take up more than a few minutes but it makes all the difference to her day.
Thirdly, my love for God and the life that He has blessed me with should be demonstrated in enjoyment, enthusiasm and thankfulness whatever I am doing. If I go around feeling put upon and seeing serving others as a burden then my witness will be that Christianity is a drudge and a grind. If my faith is all about rules and what I/we can't do, then those around me will see Christianity as a prison rather than the source of true freedom. In our house we have planned activities that can help us live out the joy of our faith; for example we have cooked international meals and then talked about and prayed for missionaries currently serving in that part of the world.
Ultimately, my witness to those who live with me is completely reliant on my loving heavenly Father who reached out, rescued and died for me whilst I was still His enemy. My responsibility is to love Him, love others, and pray that He will draw them to Himself.
