Family
Outreach
 A
family is a group of persons related by
marriage and blood ties and generally living
together in the same household. In our case,
most of the families we reach out to are
not living together, because of separation
by prison walls. One of the exception would
be our outreach to victims and their families.
God's ideal for the family is that it be
a harmonious unit, where love for God and
neighbor are instilled into each member.
Jesus was asked: "Teacher, which is
the most important commandment in the law
of Moses?" Jesus replied, "You
must love the Lord your God with all your
heart, all your soul, and all your mind."
This is the first and greatest commandment.
A second is equally important: "Love
your neighbor as yourself" (Matt. 22:36-39
NLT).
The fact is unless we know God's love for
us, we are not spiritually healthy to love
God and one another. Once we are born of
the Spirit through receiving Christ into
our heart, we are empowered to experience
God's love and to love others.
The most important thing we can do is to
pray the following for ourselves and our
family members. "May we experience
the love of Christ, though it is so great
we will never fully understand it. Then
we will be filled with the fullness of life
and power that comes from God" (Eph.
3:19 NLT). I can not stress praying this
prayer enough! If we do, we are promised,
"By His mighty power at work within
us, He is able to accomplish infinitely
more than we would ever dare to ask or hope"
(Eph. 3:20 NLT).
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