Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
- John 7:3-5

Even Jesus' family had a hard time getting on board with his identity and mission. They pushed him to do good things, but things that would be a distraction and a diversion from what he knew he had been sent to do.

There's something especially difficult when family pushes back against you. And it can be remarkably difficult to share your faith with your family or your relatives. Have you ever experienced this difficulty?

For most of us, our primary role in our families is going to be to pray for them and to live an integrated life, a life where your faith and your words-actions-activities align. Hearing faith articulated is important, but for many of our family members, they'll need to also hear it from someone else before they take it seriously.

But this doesn't downplay the influence we can have in the spiritual lives of our family and relatives. Just about any Christian can talk to them about Jesus. None can pray for them as faithfully and well as you can.

Will you commit today to spending some time praying that your family members would grow in their faith and relationship with Jesus, perhaps even to believe in him?