When we consider building intentional families, there are four specific principles we should put into practice — legacy, likelihood, lenses, and learning. Each of these principles require that parents or any person raising a child(ren) be diligent and intentional in the way they parent, with keeping God at the center.    

God designed families and marriage as incubators for children to experience and know Him. In fact, the model for Christian marriage is the relationship between Jesus and the Church.  Whether you’re currently married or are interested in marriage, it’s important to understand and model God’s desire for us to build intentional and Christ-centered marriages.   

Have you considered that God’s plan to change the world starts with wanting to change each of us? His plan to change the world is to present a new humanity seen in the lives of the people who are following Jesus. As you move forward in today’s world, how can you be a changed life, sharing the love of Jesus?

Do you pray for and share the love of Jesus with others? God’s heart is for every person to be prayed for and to have repeated opportunities to both hear and respond to the gospel.  And the closer we are to God, the more we will want to tell others about Him. 

Is there an area of your life that is poisoned by anger? If so, what would it mean to surrender that anger to God? Since God’s heart toward people is often very different from ours, we can actually transform our way of thinking when we conform our heart toward His.

You might have heard that God is a God of second chances. In your life, has this been true? Has God given you a second chance at choices or decisions you’ve made? As we see in Jonah, God gave him a second chance to obey Him. 

Do you feel God’s presence in all circumstances? Whatever your response to this question, it’s good to be reminded that God truly is always with us. He’s present in our rebellion, trouble, worship, mission, and more. We see this is Jonah’s story. Regardless of his actions or situation, God never left him.  

Have you ever run from God particularly when He was calling you to do something? Even when we run from or even avoid God, He’s still at work in our life. We see this with Jonah. He ran, but God didn’t leave him and even still used him to make an impact in the lives of others.

Does it make sense to you that confession of our sins to Jesus should end in joy as we remember the gospel? When we consider Jesus’ heart for us, we can see that we’re covered in love, grace, mercy, and more.  Think of it this way: Jesus’ heart is to rescue us from sin, restore us to relationship, and recommission us to our call.

Have you ever had to make a decision quickly with serious implications for your life and/or family? In the book of Matthew, this is the situation in which Joseph finds himself. And, as we see, he trusted in God as he moved forward. What can we learn from Joseph about trusting and having faith in God when we seem to be faced with opposition?