Chapter 4: Family Feud
Balance VS Priority
Your primary ministry calling is your family. Do not regularly miss out on quality family
time & meals due to ministry-related programming, meetings, hospital calls, or
emergencies. That’s not sacrifice - that’s arrogance, neglect or worse.
Nobody else can be a husband to your wife, a wife to your husband or a father/mother to
your children. Play together. Pray together. Intentionally protect that time at all costs.
Schedule meetings and hospital calls during business hours, prioritize your schedule,
drop or delegate the responsibilities that you’re able to. Unplug the phone during
dinner. If your ministry position will not permit these sort of boundaries - quit. It’s not
worth your family.
That said, there inevitably will be seasons in ministry (Christmas, Special Events,
Camps, Conferences, Retreats, etc) that may require more of your time - and that’s ok.
The key is “if you regularly miss…” During these peak seasons - try to find ways your
family can be involved with what you’re doing. And if possible, at the end of peak
seasons, comp the time missed in order to spend some extra time with your family.
For those who are not married or whose children are out of the house, be intentional
about spending regular quality time with family members - even if only by phone.
If you are faithful with the ministry that God has given you in your family, you may be
surprised by His faithfulness in all your secondary ministry endeavors.