The Bible clearly tells us that it is God's desire for all believers to be conformed to the image and likeness of His very own begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's God's will that all who believe in Christ will be like Him in every way: in character, in obedience to God's will, in love for God and men, and in the way He dealt with people.
One of the aspects we must grow in Christ-likeness in is the way we balance ministry and family life.
Many ministers today lack this balance and set themselves up for a lot of disappointment and failure. We must learn to balance these things like Jesus did.
Here are a few crucial lessons from Jesus' own family and ministry life.
1) He lived single to focus on God's will
Ever noticed how Jesus lived as a single Man wholly dedicated to doing God's will?
This facet alone gives us several lessons, but for sake of brevity we'll take a look at only one aspect: His dedication to God's will.
Many single Christians today fail to pursue God's will because of perceived loneliness from being single. Later on they will realize that if they had pursued God's will while God didn't allow them to marry, they would've succeeded.
What's more, some Christians who rushed to marry ended up longing to give more time to ministry, but could not because of marital responsibilities.
Jesus didn't have time for any romantic relationship or emotional rollercoaster. He didn't come to do His own will:
"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." (John 6:38)
Jesus lived on earth focusing solely on the Father's will. While there's nothing wrong with marrying, Jesus knew that it just wasn't His time for it.
But when His bride becomes ready, He will soon marry her (see Revelation 19:6-9).
2) He never abandoned His family for the sake of ministry
Jesus had the greatest calling and ministry of all: the salvation of mankind and the defeat of sin and Satan.
Yet, despite the greatness of what God send Him to do, Jesus never abandoned His family. He never abandoned His family for the sake of the greatness of His ministry.
Pretty amazing, right?
I've heard a teaching that says "if you're called to go fulltime, you've got to abandon your family." This teaching is wrong and demonic.
Why would you not honor your father and mother, provide for your relatives, and manage your household, if only for the sake of ministry? (see Exodus 20:12; 1 Timothy 5:8; 1 Timothy 3:4)
Jesus never abandoned His family. Scholars believe that Jesus took the responsibility of providing for His earthly mother after His earthly father died. In His own death, He even made sure that someone would take care of His earthly mother:
"When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!" Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home." (John 19:26-27)
3) His ministry reached out to families
Jesus' ministry was not focused on a specific group of people. He wasn't limited to the youth, the men, or the women.
His ministry was for all mankind.
Jesus reached out to everyone. He always reached out to families.
Consider Jairus' daughter in Mark 5:21-43. Jesus brought the young girl back to life and reached out to Jairus' own heart.
Also consider Peter's mother-in-law in Luke 4:38-39. Jesus called Peter to be His disciple, but He didn't ignore Peter's family. He reached out to them and healed his mother-in-law.
We also read the story of Mary, Martha and Lazarus.
And there's the story of the young boy from whom demons were cast out (in Mark 9:14-29). Jesus freed this young boy from demonic oppression and caused the child's father to believe (see Mark 9:24).
Jesus reached out to whole families. He does not save just one member of the family; He wants whole families to know Him and be saved by Him.
