Balancing church and family life tweet session #FamilyLifeSimplified

• Today we will be treating an important topic titled "Balancing church and family life."
• I love this topic especially because it is something that affects every Christian home.
• First things first... You must ask yourself what is more important, family or church?
• Without defining what your order of priorities is, you will always have conflict.
• You and your spouse need to be in agreement as to the order of priorities
• I personally believe that our family ought to be a priority above our church ministry
• Scripture supports this
• If your family breaks apart, your Christian testimony becomes ineffective.
• People can only trust a man whose lifestyle exemplifies his message.
• If you want to measure the quality of a minister's character, look at his home life. Gen 18:19
• So, how do we do it? How do we put our family first yet still attend to ministry demands? 1 Tim 5:8
• Know the order of your priorities. Here is what works for my husband @biupresident and I:
• Your number one responsibility is to God. Keep your connection with him intact. Have daily time for prayer and Bible reading. Ps 119:105
• Grow personally, before you stand before men publicly.
• Develop your knowledge base of the Word, especially in challenging areas.
• Spouse comes before children. Work hard to ensure that your spouse knows they are your priority.
• Set aside time every day for uninterrupted communication.
• Set a weekly "date night" where you enjoy time away from kids, church and work.
• Pay attention to your spouse's needs, spoken and unspoken. Maintain a healthy agreeable sex life.
• Children come before church volunteer work or ministry.
• Your child will grow up feeling secure if you make it clear to them that they come first before work and church.
• Spend quality time with your children.
• Get to know your children's likes and dislikes.
• Your vocation is important. It will help you take care of your major responsibilities and fund the gospel.
• The scripture says in II Thes. 3:10  "...the one who is unwilling to work shall not eat." ‘
• Don't put your family into poverty because of your martyr mentality to give all for the kingdom.
• Let your family be assured that their basic needs will be taken care of before the needs of others. ‘
• Church life and volunteerism is where your eternal reward comes from. Do it with all your heart. Rev 22:12
• To maintain a balance, you need to always remind yourself and your family of your priorities.
• Discuss your priorities often and allow your family to hold you accountable.
• Avoid crowding your schedule with unnecessary or irrelevant activities.
• Pray and get agreement before taking on any new duty.
• Learn to delegate some church responsibilities that can be handled by others. Don't think you must do it alone.
• When you travel for ministry assignments, still make out time to communicate and pray with your family through phone calls, text messages or video calls.
• Keep yourself accessible to your spouse, even while in church related activities. This fosters trust
• Never make your family feel like the church is your home.
• Involve your spouse and your children in church activities too.
• When they find joy in service, they will see why you also find joy in service.
• Communicate! Communicate! Communicate! If the church has a program or camp meeting that will take you away for several days, give ample notice and get agreement before you register.
• If you don't have agreement from your spouse, don't do it. Remember your priorities.
• Set boundaries. Allocate time and limits to your ministry life.
• For example: you must not be on call for your ministry 24/7
• Listen to the spoken and unspoken clues that your spouse gives you about your time away from home. ‘
• Some people have argued that balance is a myth. I disagree. I believe that proper balance is achievable if we keep these principles in our forefront. ‘
• Do you have some thoughts on this topic? Feel free to share with us using #FamilyLifeSimplified ‘

Join me (@IdahosaLaurie) on twitter for upcoming editions of #FamilyLifeSimplified every Thursday, 7pm @MyChurchUnusual.

            Thank you and God bless.