Ephesians 4:22-24
Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. (NLT)

So many of us have a desire to break out of family dysfunction. I’ve heard many times, and even said myself, “I won’t be that way with my kids.” Don’t get me wrong—I come from a wonderful family and two parents who raised me and my sister to know who Jesus is and be able to discern right from wrong. They were very involved, and I’ve learned so much about parenting from them. But I know plenty of folks who didn’t grow up in that situation. And, even with great parents, there was still dysfunction in our family at large.

Looking at the genealogy of Jesus, His lineage was full of some rough characters, deceit, lies, adultery, and plenty of dysfunction. The thing is, Jesus came to redeem all of that. He broke the cycle of that dysfunction and, instead, was a picture of faithfulness and holiness to those around Him. He came to seek and save the lost. That’s you and me and our families, too.

As we look at Jesus’ family tree, two things stand out: 1) God used a whole lot of sinful people, just like me, to build His kingdom. 2) He can redeem all of the mess. If you find yourself wanting to break the cycle of dysfunction in your family but not knowing where to start, take it to God. Let Him help you. If you find yourself wanting to break free of your own dysfunction (whether that be addiction, poor choices, or something else), talk to the Lord about that and confess your sin to someone you trust in your life.

Know this: God loves you, and He loves even the most difficult people in your life. He is bigger than even the most awful things we’ve done or that have been done to us. You can trust Him.

Thursday’s Reflection

Take the next few minutes and just pray. Pray for the folks in your life who need to know Jesus. Pray that God would examine your heart and help you get rid of the temptations that trip you up. Make a commitment for things to be different starting today, and tell God about it.