Real Change: It's Harder At Home

When the thought of home comes to mind, the nostalgia of family and a flood of memories fill our hearts. Home has a special place in all of our hearts. However, home can also be the most difficult terrain to navigate during our journey through life.

In the song Coming Home, P. Diddy writes: “It’s easier to be Puff, but it’s harder to be Sean”. The media mogul says that often times it’s easier for him to go by his musician persona than it is to just be himself, the name given to him by his family. The same can be true for us: it can be easy to pretend and perform with strangers, but hard when we have to be ourselves.

Within the home, your family sees the real you. No titles or additions to your name matter. In the home you’re simply “Dad,” “Mom,” “Brother,” or “Sister”.  Relationship dynamics can become cemented in place and certain perceptions can be hard to escape.

Plastered Perception

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Mark 6:1-6

Jesus experienced plastered perception firsthand! In his own neighborhood, people treated him with contempt because his identity was already cemented in their minds.  He was a carpenter who came from a blue-collar family.  In their eyes, there was no possible way for this man to be much more than that.

What we learn from this passage is that the hardest place to prove you’ve changed is in the home. Your family members know you best. But if you can prove within the walls of your home that you have genuinely changed, then indeed you have truly changed as a person.

Similar to Jesus, Gideon’s test of change came in the home.

Role Reversals

So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the townspeople, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.

Judges 6:27

Although God told Gideon he was a mighty warrior who would soon lead the nation of Israel to a historical victory over a formidable foe, it all meant nothing if he couldn’t lead in his home. All his life Gideon was the good kid who tried his best to stay out of trouble and to help to his dad. But suddenly, in an instant he was called to go from obedient child to family leader.

Although he was petrified with fear and took action under the secrecy of night, Gideon took a leap of courage by leading his family from idol worshipers to God followers. This first and absolutely necessary decision to lead in his home proved to be the groundwork for Gideon to become the leader of the nation of Israel.

What does your family’s perception of who you are say about the real you?  

What areas within your home have been the most difficult for you to change?  

In what ways are you meant to lead your family? What personal changes are necessary for you to make in order to do this?