The following is an excerpt from a speech that Mother Teresa gave at the 1994 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C.
“I can never forget the experience I had in visiting a home where they kept all these old parents of sons and daughters who had just put them into an institution and forgotten them -- maybe. I saw that in that home these old people had everything -- good food, comfortable place, television, everything, but everyone was looking toward the door. And I did not see a single one with a smile on the face. I turned to Sister and I asked: ‘Why do these people who have every comfort here, why are they all looking toward the door? Why are they not smiling?’”
“I am so used to seeing the smiles on our people, even the dying ones smile. And Sister said: ‘This is the way it is nearly everyday. They are expecting, they are hoping that a son or daughter will come to visit them. They are hurt because they are forgotten.’ And see, this neglect to love brings spiritual poverty. Maybe in our own family we have somebody who is feeling lonely, who is feeling sick, who is feeling worried. Are we there? Are we willing to give until it hurts in order to be with our families, or do we put our own interests first? These are the questions we must ask ourselves, especially as we begin this year of the family. We must remember that love begins at home and we must also remember that 'the future of humanity passes through the family.'”
As unglamorous as it sounds, our family is one of our greatest ministry opportunities. We would rather change the world than change our households. Many of us come from broken homes, dysfunctional families, and parents who do not know the Lord. Regardless of our circumstances, God is calling us to love and minister to those near us. Seize the position you have in your family and bring the truth of Christ. Ask the Lord today how you can begin to show love and service to those that are often the hardest to love.
“It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where love for each other must start.” – Mother Teresa
Do you find it hard to love your family? How can you show the love of Christ to your family during this Christmas break? Do you spend time in prayer for your family? Share with us your struggles and successes in relation to ministering to your family.
Click here to read the full speech by Mother Teresa
2 comments:
I find it so easy to just let all my "ugliness" out on my family. They are going to still love me anyway right? Things I would never say to my roommates at the end of a hard day, I say them to my family. This is my biggest struggle in showing them Christ. Taming the tongue...I need to work on that!
Yeah Ashley, I'm there too. It's so easy for me to be hard on my family and to judge them or get angry. It's counter-intuitive: most of them are not believers, so you'd think I would want to be as gentle and kind to them as possible. It just doesn't work that way. I'm praying for some serious breakthrough in love for them.
Post a Comment