family – lukegajary.org https://lukegajary.org Thu, 16 Jun 2022 15:03:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 https://lukegajary.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/cropped-sitefavicon-32x32.png family – lukegajary.org https://lukegajary.org 32 32 Why I Prioritize Attending Church https://lukegajary.org/why-i-prioritize-attending-church/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-i-prioritize-attending-church https://lukegajary.org/why-i-prioritize-attending-church/#respond Thu, 16 Jun 2022 15:03:44 +0000 https://lukegajary.org/?p=1920
⛪ Make the choice on Saturdays to attend church in the morning. Even if you haven’t been to one in a while, it’s worth just checking one out. My family is on the hunt for a new church due to relocating, and here’s a few reasons why we won’t succumb to the temptation to stay home on Sundays:
✅ it encourages and refreshes my soul.
✅ we calibrate our priorities when we make a local church a nonnegotiable in our week
✅ our children learn and grow in the ways of God. Home teaching is reinforced in our children in a healthy church.
✅ we find like minded people who are on the same path with us. Traveling life alone is a recipe for failure
✅ if we didn’t go, we’d be just vegging at home anyways, sniffing each other’s farts. There’s a lot worse ways to spend 2 hours on a Sunday than being in a corporate worship service
✅ our eyes get off of ourselves and onto the Kingdom that’s bigger than any of us. During a time where America is not doing amazing, it’s important to remember we exist for another world and this is not our long term home.
❌ church does not save us. Yes, we can go to heaven without it. You don’t have to have sex to stay married either but it makes it a heck of a lot more fun.
❌ church is not a religious check box. We don’t go because we are obligated to. We go because life is better in a healthy church.
❌ it’s extremely selfish to stay home and do church online. We have gifts, callings, and wisdom to offer those around us and we must be careful to stay contributors to the world around us and not just become consumers.
????????If you’ve been out for a while or church is just an optional activity for you, I encourage you to re engage. If you’ve been wounded, disappointed, or let down by a church, I am truly sorry. At some point, it’s time to get back in the game and forgive. Not all churches are bad (most aren’t) and not all pastors are spiritually abusive (most aren’t).
]]> https://lukegajary.org/why-i-prioritize-attending-church/feed/ 0 The Journey Of Selflessness https://lukegajary.org/the-journey-of-selflessness/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-journey-of-selflessness https://lukegajary.org/the-journey-of-selflessness/#comments Sat, 03 Dec 2016 18:18:22 +0000 https://lukegajary.org/?p=1158 I’m learning that life is a journey of becoming less and less selfish.

When you’re single, you’re totally obsessed with yourself. It’s all about you.

Then you meet someone, and you have to be a little less selfish, but it’s still really about you – you just have someone else that shares your interests so for the most part you can still be fairly selfish, just with a partner.

Then you have a kid.

And at that point, you’re rapidly thrust in to selflessness. It’s 0% about you anymore, and the better you are at being less selfish, the better spouse and parent you’ll be. I’m not perfect at this, but I’m learning this is the core issue of my heart when it comes to making or breaking marriage and parenting – selfishness.

No one really prepared me for what falling in love looked like on practical level…or the feeling that comes when your love for your woman is multiplied in to the form of a tiny human that you’ve created.

People are quick to pipe up about the negatives…

“You’re single, huh? Great, hold off getting a ball and chain and enjoy life!”

“Oh man, you’re engaged? There’s still time to get out! Run while you can!”

“Your life will change forever, put off having kids for as long as you can!”

^ actual things people have said to me.

But no one emphasizes that in the midst of this thing is deep unspeakable joy.

Not many people talk about it, but there’s a quiet greatness that lies in creating a marriage and family that exemplifies God’s relationship with His people. May we create lives, marriages, and families that glorify our Creator and reflect His selflessness towards us.

]]> https://lukegajary.org/the-journey-of-selflessness/feed/ 1