Love Begins at Home

Mother Theresa hit the nail on the head when she said that "love begins at home." If I can't love my own family, then how can I truly love others outside my home? If I don't teach my children how to love, then how can they possibly make a positive impact on the world?

So, how can I fulfill Christ's commission to His disciples in Matthew 28:19-20 to "go" and "make disciples" of others if I haven't made disciples of my own children first?

Before I got married, I went on several mission trips to Honduras and Costa Rica, and in those rich experiences, I learned that my work was in vain unless I developed a real relationship with the people I sought to disciple. Unless I showed my care and concern, my love, for the people there, I had only minimal, if any, impact on them. However, as I listened to their stories, offered hugs and encouragement, and prayed with them, I found that the hearts of the people I reached out to were more receptive to hearing and believing the Word. Yes, it's cliche, but the people I discipled discipled me. And from them, I developed a love for people of different cultures and languages.

Soon after I was married, I became pregnant with our first child, and at that moment, my mission work changed. It became imperative that I make every effort to lead my child (now children) to the Lord. That doesn't mean I no longer support mission work in the U.S. and abroad: we actively support missionaries in several different locations. It simply means that my work is here, in our home, with our children. And yes, it is very lonely at times. Being a mom, especially a stay-at-home mom, is a very isolated and isolating position to be in. But Jesus promises in verse 20:

"And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

As a mother of two small children, there are days when I desperately want to run away, even if it's just to Starbucks for a minute to myself. But I truly believe that I have a job; I have been commissioned, along with Peter, Andrew, James and John, to go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all the Lord's commands. For me, the first nation to go and disciple is my home. Love begins at home.

Just as I once reached out to complete strangers in foreign lands with the Gospel, I must now listen to, hug, encourage, and pray with and for my children. I must teach them about the One who loved them so much He gave up His life for them. That is my job. For now.

Love begins at home.