Healing Family Relationships Through Acceptanceنموونە

Every one of your family members comes with baggage. Baggage goes by many names—issues, problems, dysfunctions, unhealthy patterns, wounds, sins, etc. Every one of my family members is full of these, and I am too. Part of choosing to be in a relationship with someone is choosing to accept their baggage. This does not mean we don't confront hurtful behavior or set up necessary boundaries, but simply that your family member's baggage comes with them. If you want them in your life, the baggage is part of the deal.

I had a choice to make with my father. I could either have no relationship with my father, or I could choose to have a relationship with my father and his baggage. With God's help, I chose the latter. I chose to accept the fact that my father had a chronic area of deep brokenness and dysfunction. It wasn't easy. His ongoing choices and behavior were hurtful to me, and I was continually revisiting the forgiveness process so that anger and bitterness would not take root in my heart.

You may be facing a similar choice with your family member. There is a fork in the road. You can choose the path of having no relationship or a severely limited relationship. The other choice is the path of acceptance. You can choose to accept your family member with his or her baggage. You may choose this path for the sake of love. You love your husband, so you are willing to carry the extra weight of his baggage as part of the package of what it means to be in a relationship with him. You love your daughter, so you choose to accept her with all her selfishness and her pattern of poor decisions. This is how our Heavenly Father continues to love His children, with all our sins and struggles—past, present, and future.

Reflection Question: What specific "baggage" are you struggling to accept in a family member? Pray and ask for the Lord to give you strength as you bear this extra weight.