When Family Members Isolate You

Have you ever had family members isolate you from them while remaining loyal to the rest of the group? This is not only present with bio-family but also with church family.

When man's thinking becomes more important than the principles of God in His Word, we find those who are determined to be faithful to the Word of God will be treated with contempt in subtle ways.

 
They will be excluded, gossiped about, dismissed as insignificant and even misinterpreted deliberately, enabling those who are full of hate to believe they have a good reason for their intense disrespect.

 
These things happened to Christ everywhere He went and also to the disciples.

 
Matthew 10:21-23 "…21Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved. 23When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next."

Notice that those who will be disrespectful the most are the members of one's own family. It is a joy to remember that our bio-family is no longer our family when we belong to God. They only fit into "family" when they also follow Christ.

 
Many people who say they are Christians do not follow Christ, they follow the traditions of men and even punish authentic believers for asserting freedom from those human traditions.

 
The believers may not even discuss with others their choice to ignore the traditions, they just simply live their own lives while ignoring those traditions. This alone is enough to cause anger in those who demand compliance with the human family system.

 
Those who are worldly cannot follow what they personally believe, they must follow what the culture believes so that they are sure to fit in and have many friends who support them.

 
When we follow Christ we will not fit into the human family system or the cultural Christianity so many are bound to, we walk the narrow path and do not bend to the culture, this will make many people angry and vindictive against us.
Our families do not "put us to death" physically, but they would if they could. They treat us as though they wish we were dead and, even worse enlist others to do the same.

 
Mark 13:13
"You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved."

2 Timothy 3:12
"Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,"

It hurts less when we know what is happening and eventually, it no longer hurts at all because those who treat us like this are not our real family. Our real family are those who love Jesus Christ as much as we do and who will be loving and loyal to us because we love Christ.

 
Bio-family who do not follow Christ have no place in our lives. When we have witnessed the gospel to them and they resisted then we are to avoid them and move on to others who might listen.

 
Also, we are about the business of edifying the saints to help one another grow in holiness. Wasting our time with bio-family who have already been indoctrinated into cultural Christianity and will not listen to the truth is not where God wants us.
Cultural Christians will work at diminishing our walk with Christ through petty conflicts and arguments. One-upping one another is the goal, self-exaltation is continual in these groups.

 
We are not to engage with those who only want to win in an argument. 2 Timothy 3 tells us to get away from those who wish to have a form of religion but deny Christ by their traditions based on their own self-exaltation.

 
Keep pressing on toward the goal of holiness seeking Christ every day, removing from yourselves all those who would attempt to bring you down into their "religiosity" based on their personal happiness and not on Christ.

 
2 Timothy 3:1-5
Godlessness in the Last Days
"3 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people."

1 Peter 4:12-14
"Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you."

May this encourage anyone who has been treated with contempt by those claiming to be Christian but has no fruit of the Spirit of God. The first fruit is love which they do not exhibit. Every act of friendliness has an ulterior motive for those who want to appear spiritual but lack the very essence of Christ in their lives.

 
Here is what we should notice in all born-again believers, as the Spirit of Christ connects with others who also have His Spirit.

 
Galatians 5:22-23 - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

Love is the first fruit that drives all the other fruit. Without love the other elements of the fruit will be missing.

 
Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

38 This is the great and foremost commandment.
39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”