FAMILY IS SUPREME!

A "wise man" once said to me that "the greatest and most valuable word in the world is RELATIONSHIP!" 

I have never forgotten that statement. You see relationship is the chord that binds one to another. Friend, colleague, brother, mother, sibling, relative, etc. Relationship can get you were influence and hardwork may not. Relationship works hand in hand with favour. 

And for those of us that are SAVED, relationship is what grans us access to God. Jesus died so that we can be reconciled to form a RELATIONSHIP with God whereby we have boldness to call God, "Abba Father". Adoption into sonship! 

As we can see, relationship is pretty powerful indeed! Among the various calibre of relationships, the strongest remains FAMILY! The chord that binds us in a family relationship is blood enforced with love. 

There are many things one may not tolerate from other people but when it comes to family, our tolerance becomes enduring. That is one of the reasons it is advised not to involve family in business. You may not be able to follow through with certain actions because of the bonds of that relationship. 

A friend of mine got married recently. It was a glorious occasion. Roll back to the planning for this occasion, this young man had several reactions to the introduction of his bride-to-be to people. His friends swore unalloyed support while his family were difficult and challenged his choice. He was troubled but kept pushing. Fast forward to the ceremony, you will be surprised to find out that his family were the ones that stood by him and were present during the ceremony, while his friends were noticeably absent. 

This is not to attack absentee friends (it can't be as I unfortunately was one of them). This is to direct our focus to the amazing selfless / sacrificial nature of being a part of a family. I have also had the pleasure of encountering the story of another acquaintance who has issues with his family that was escalated by his actions engineered by the advice of friends. His character was destructive, embarrassing and criminal. When he finally landed himself in trouble with the law. It was his family that rescued him and contributed to his travel abroad. 

No matter how bad a child gets, a mother remains a mother. So, it is disheartening when I see ministries these days try (and often succeed) to turn people against their families. You use your hand to destroy the lifeline God gave to you. I see people go to wolves in sheep clothing to pray for the death of an Uncle or Aunt in the name of taking back their destiny. 

I will like to point out to these people that: 

1. A tree does not make a forest. A stick of broom can not sweep the yard. You are nothing without your history and your history is your family. 
2. Your destiny is not in anybody's hands. Whoever asks you to attack your family for "spiritual liberty" is asking you to kill yourself. Yes I know that there are bad people. But there is a better way to handle headache than chopping off your head. 
3. Respect your family. Your family is the greatest support mechanism you have. It is your link to greatness - your responsibility, your legacy. 
4. For those who foolishly hate their parents, go ask the prostitute how hard it was to abort the pregnancy. Go further and ask mothers how easy it is to take care of a toddler. Or ask fathers how easy it was to dish out money for school fees. Your parents do not hate you. If you are already above 5years old, then know that your parents have already made huge sacrifices for your to exist. 
5. If you know curses then you should know that fighting the one who rocked you to sleep at 2:00am in the morning, carries a God level curse. Stop living a phony life of privilege. Nobody owes you anything. On the other hand you owe it to your family to be the best person you can be. Assure them that the tears in the labour ward and the sleepless nights afterwards were not for nothing.

- E. I. OPUTA

PS: In case you did not realise, the picture above is the BUSH family of the USA. That family boasts of at least two presidents.