Mirror, mirror on the wall....

I have heard it said by seasoned pastors that years into their ministries at the same church, they can look out and see their failures, weaknesses, and inconsistencies reflected back to them. By that they mean that the people usually look like their pastor, warts and all.

I couldn't help but think if this is true in the church, how much more true is it in the smaller church of our home. Every pastor's (and godly Christian man's) home can be likened to a smaller parish. There is teaching, discipleship, and prayer in the home of the husband and father who desires for Christ to be formed in his family. But like the church, though we may see our strengths reflected back to us we will also see our weaknesses reflected in our wives and children. Whether we see a lack of compassion in our children, a spirit of criticism in our wife, or a busy self interest in both, it may be that God is allowing us to see ourselves for the purpose of conforming us to the image of Christ. I am pleading earnestly to the Lord that he would make our home a place of Gospel-centered joy, that we would be full of compassion, hospitable, concerned for the needs of others,and those who speak the truth in love. God help us.