April 27, 2020

Weekly Reflections – Intentional Families IX

Weekly Reflections – Intentional Families IX

INTENTIONAL FAMILIES: Model Responsibility and Accountability

This is the ninth weekly reflection in a series on “Forming Intentional Families.” We continue addressing each of ten tenets and we have one more to go. The producers of this program wisely wrote, “Intentional means that we do more than just react to life. Instead, we must create a vision, make purposeful choices, and then decisively take action to make our families all that God desires them to be.” Can you choose to be intentional when it comes to your family?

Blessings and peace with my prayer for a “responsible week” during this time, for many, of pandemic-oriented isolation.  Now is a real opportunity for us to intentionally demonstrate a commitment to responsibility and accountability.  Our children will notice and remember!

Chaplain Allen
chaplain@nationsu.edu
chaplainscorner.org

TENET 9: Model Responsibility and Accountability

  1. Christian parents should be living examples of Jesus’ teaching on our responsibility for others, our willingness to sacrifice for others, and our accountability for our actions.
  2. “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.” Matthew 25:35:36
  3. Jesus commands us to put others first and to treat one another with love, mercy and compassion.
  4. Give sacrificially. Jesus asks us to give of ourselves and to sacrifice for others as He did for us on the Cross.  This message is countercultural for many in modern society who seek to satisfy personal wants and needs first.

 

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.”
Matthew 7:12

 

Teach virtue through stories, Scripture and the lives of saintly people.  (A virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do the good.  It allows the person not only to perform good acts, but to grow the best of himself.)

 

The Ten Tenets of the “Forming Intentional Families” program.

1. Set family priorities.
2. Share family meals.
3. Lead family prayer and teach the faith.
4. Manage/limit media intake.
5. Control pace of life.
6. Forgive easily and often/ask for forgiveness.
7. Encourage active listening/open and honest communication.
8. Schedule family fun and play time.
9. Teach/model responsibility and accountability.
10. Acknowledge and share our gifts and talents.

Source: This program was developed over several years by the St. Laurence Pastoral Council (distributed April 2019) in Sugar Land, Texas.

Note: The opinions expressed in this Reflection are intended to be those of the author alone based on his understanding of the Bible and how God works with his people.

 

Read more reflections, Forming Intentional Families VIII: Encourage Family Fun and Play Time