Formations: "Family"            August 16, 2026

Matthew 15:1-9; 1 Timothy 5:1-8

The last eight and a half months have been rough for my family as we have helped my father navigate the transition from living with us at home to living in a long-term care facility. Things have gone about as well as we could have hoped. The facility is exceptional in almost every respect, and I’m confident Dad is getting the care he needs. 

That doesn’t make the transition any easier for any of us, of course. We still miss Dad sitting with us at the supper table or going to church with us on Sundays. 

At the same time, this difficult season makes certain portions of Scripture a lot more relevant to us than they were last year. In Matthew 15, Jesus challenges the Pharisees and scribes for engaging in legalistic gymnastics to neglect the commandment to honor father and mother. Such people are hypocrites who are far from God regardless of their religious posturing. And then in 1 Timothy 5, Paul calls on the church to honor widows and especially for believers to provide for their own family members. Failure to do so, he says, constitutes a denial of the faith.

Family is a high priority in a Christian’s life. Or, at least, it should be. Our passages focus on financial support of elderly parents, but there are many other ways followers of Jesus should take care of their families. 

What do we owe our families? Jesus is clear that we can’t skirt our responsibilities by appealing to hyper-religious loopholes. In simplest terms, if you need to cut back on your church offering because your family member needs that money, then that’s what you should do. 

Guide participants to reflect on how they can express devotion to God through devotion to their families.

Darrell Pursiful is the editor of Formations. He is an adjunct professor at Mercer University and an active member of the First Baptist Church of Christ in Macon, Georgia.