Topic: Hold the Family Together by Affection [Ellen G. White  Devotional july 15 2019]

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Family Companionship

Shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night. Psalm 92:2

The religion of Christ will lead us to do all the good possible, to both high and low, rich and poor, happy and oppressed. But especially will it lead to the manifestation of kindness in our own family. It will be manifested by acts of courtesy and love to father and mother, husband, wife, and child. We are to look to Jesus, to catch His Spirit, to live in the light of His goodness and love, and to reflect His glory upon others.

Those who are united by the ties of nature have the strongest claims upon one another. In their dealings with each other they should manifest kindness and the tenderest love.

Gentle manners, cheerful conversation, and loving acts will bind the hearts of children to their parents by the silken cords of affection and will do more to make home attractive than the rarest ornaments that can be bought for gold.

Mutual kindness and forbearance will make home a paradise and attract holy angels into the family circle; but they will flee from a house where there are unpleasant words, fretfulness, and strife.

The most valuable rules for social and family intercourse are to be found in the Bible…. Our Saviour’s sermon on the mount contains instruction of priceless worth to old and young. It should be often read in the family circle, and its precious teachings exemplified in the daily life. The golden rule, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them,” … should be made the law of the family. Those who cherish the spirit of Christ will manifest politeness at home…. They will be constantly seeking to make all around them happy, forgetting self in their kind attention to others.

Christian courtesy is the golden clasp which unites the members of the family in bonds of love, becoming closer and stronger every day.