The Bottom Line

October 15, 2021

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT

The foundation of a healthy family is healthy individuals. The foundation of a happy family is happy individuals. The foundation of a godly family is godly individuals. You can’t have a group value without individuals who embrace it and live it. That’s the bottom line.

An early American sampler says, “The best way to train up a child in the way he should go is to go that way yourself.” Whatever role you have in your family, you are an influencer. You can begin a trend in your family with eternal consequences. It begins with your personal choice to “trust in the Lord with all your heart.” You choose to be a true Jesus-follower, not just a simple “believer.” You actively trust Him with everything—that’s actually what faith is. It’s the exact opposite of trusting your own understanding.

That’s vital because you cannot trust the Lord with your whole heart while you are depending on what you can see and understand. This is how opinions dominate and divide groups. The only way to unite the family is for everyone to trust the Lord instead of their own opinions. That enables the family as a whole to seek God’s will in all the family does. You can trust God to show you the path to take. Your family heads in the most fulfilling direction possible as each individual trusts the Lord, and then you do it together.

Perhaps you can’t picture this happening for your family. But it has to start somewhere. Why not with you? You say, “Seeing this kind of change in my family will take forever.” Well, the next few years are going to go by anyway. If you make the change and commit to consistently following and trusting the Lord with all your heart and positively influencing your family, you may very well end up with a completely transformed family in two or three years. Or, in two or three years you could be more tense, divided, and wishing you had started a new direction three years earlier.

You are in charge of your choices. Your choice to trust the Lord with your whole heart will give you wisdom and direction to follow Him on the right path and will give you the best chance of your family walking with you.

• Pray your own personal prayer, committing to trust the Lord with all your heart and lead your family by your influence and example.