Although Thanksgiving is not a holiday with traditions rooted in Scripture like Christmas and Easter, it is still a wonderful opportunity to recognize God’s goodness to us, and a time that we can thank God for the blessings that come from our families. Although no family is perfect, we can recognize the blessings that come through our family on Thanksgiving day .
Our world is growing increasingly busy and our family members often live hundreds, if not thousands, of miles apart, so Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to establish and sustain connections. We can also take this time to engage in Christian fellowship with family members who are believers, and to be a powerful witness for the gospel to family members who are not believers. We can use thanksgiving as a time to forgive what needs to be forgiven and to build up our relationships with family members to be the best they can be.
Thanksgiving is also an incredible opportunity to love family members by practicing Christian hospitality (Romans 12:13). This doesn’t mean that we try to have everything perfect or pretend like problems don’t exist, but rather that we open our homes from a heart posture of wanting to love, fellowship, and care for others like Christ does for us. Ultimately, Christian hospitality is an expression of the love that Christ has shown for us, given freely and without expectation that the other person will “return the favor”.
Families are a gift from the Lord, and he is the one who creates families. However, not all of us have ideal relationships with our families – some relationships are strained, while others are broken entirely. For those of us who have a difficult past with our families, it is important that we work towards forgiving family members, establishing healthy boundaires, and seeing family members with the compassion of Christ, regardless of whether or not we are able to reconcile and visit with them.
Being with family on Thanksgiving, when possible, allows us to live out our faith in gratefulness to God, encouraging brothers and sisters in Christ, and being a gospel witness for the One who has given us everything.
Chew On This:
What’s one way you can show love and care to a particular family member this Thanksgiving?
