Last month we spent a lot of time looking at God’s Words to us in the Bible and we hope that time was fruitful for your family.   Reading God’s word is one of those non-negotiable essentials of the Christian life.  If you’re not doing it, at least occasionally, you’re really missing out.

And really, there are so many easy ways to get started!  You absolutely do not need to be any kind of scholar to read the Bible. Family life is kind of the best because it gives you a legitimate excuse to read the story versions of Scripture in children’s Bibles.  I have some favorites, but any of them will give your family a basic overview of the Bible – kind of a Greatest Hits version.  From there, read the Gospels, read the Sunday readings, just pick and choose whichever books are of interest – and above all, be sure to ask God to speak to your heart as you read.  He’s going to make some of those words stick so it’s easier and more fruitful when you are ready to go deeper.

This month is all about the Holy Spirit – the true author of all that scripture, and actually, the one who is going to inspire you to read, and the One who will help you “get something out of that reading,” so we’re excited to learn more about Him!

To put our lessons on the Holy Spirit into context, it’s important that we first learn a little about the Holy Trinity. 

When I say we’re going to “learn a little,” it’s not because the lesson is short, so much as it’s because the Trinity is one of those gigantic mysteries of the Faith that we could never even begin to understand on our own.  God, in His great goodness however, wants us to know Him better so he continues to reveal Himself in ways we can understand. 

If you have a flashlight and a table in a space you can make dark, there’s a good demonstration of this principle in the lesson. Our understanding of the Trinity is a little like the light shining on the table.  We can see the small circle in the middle pretty clearly, and the dim light outside that circle a little bit, but outside of that dim light it’s completely dark.  In the case of our understanding of the Trinity though, our light is still pretty tiny, but the table in infinitely big.  We can really and truly know God to the best of our human capabilities, but He is an infinite mystery that we can never completely know.  And that is completely awesome!  The God we love – and Who loves us – is without limits.  We will never get to the bottom of His love and mercy and that is something to hold on to!

We’re going to talk a little bit about some very simple images that will help us to understand just a little better, and then we’re going to learn about how each of us as individuals and our families are made in the image of the Trinity and how that love shared by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is imprinted upon each one of us.

And then on the back page there’s a little about how that imprinted love can help our families be unbreakable. There is no such thing as perfect family. We can do our best, but we’re fallen creatures and that means we fail sometimes.  Parents, I hope you’ll prayerfully look at the end of this lesson for a bunch of spiritual and natural ways your family can be strong no matter what your outside circumstances look like.  These are practical, absolutely-proven ways to make your family stronger.