7 Ways to Tend Your Flock

“…Tend the flock of God in your midst…”   1 Peter 5:1-11

Who’s in your flock? In this life, none of us is an island unto ourselves. We have many people in our lives and different roles in this life: Child, parent, spouse, brother, sister, niece, nephew, friend, even acquaintance… And every relationship is beautifully unique. These relationships we have with the people in our lives, some new, some lifelong, offer so many opportunities to practice patience, to help and love others unconditionally, and even forgive them as needed. In reality, some people we treasure and some we don’t. Yet, as Christians, we are called to love them all to the best of our abilities—which as we all know, at times, is no small task!

At times, our greatest temptation is to think we have little in common with some people, while focusing on our differences. However, we must find a way to normalize commonality. That is, to find a bond of some kind, even if it is just a family bond or ones faith. No, we may not like everyone who enters our life, but we are mandated by Jesus to love them all the same. Divine providence has a lot to do with who comes into your life, and that is how one’s flock comes into being.

7 Ways to Tend Your Flock

• Understand that relationships are most often mutually beneficial in some way.
• Accept that God has given you your flock for a reason.
• Always look for common ground with others.
• Practice patience with those who are difficult to love.
• Pray daily for the flock in your midst.
• Be quick to forgive others who hurt or offend you.
• Try your level best to love others as God loves you–unconditionally.

When you take a minute to look at your own flock, the comrades God has provided for you on your journey, it can be a little daunting, even baffling. We don’t always get to chose the people in our life, and may even struggle to accept or reach out to them. Some we find truly difficult to love, others we find we can hardly live without in our daily lives. We may even feel we have nothing in common with them. But there are no coincidences in this life, especially when we look at those closest to us, especially family members from birth.

As you tend to your flock, you must try to be willing to accept them as they are. Some are easy to love. While others, you are called to try, with God’s help, to love them with everything you have despite how you feel about them. Sometimes you need to help lead them to higher ground, other times you simply just need to be present to them. When you tend the flock in your midst, you are doing God’s work through the power of the Holy Spirit, and the blessings you receive are awe-inspiring, bringing greater love, peace and joy into your life.

(C) Copyright 2018   |   Adele M. Gill

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Chaplain Adele M. Gill, RN, BSN, ABDA is author of 3 books including “From Broken to Blest: Embracing the Healing that Awaits You,’ written with Dr. Verna Benner Carson. From Broken to Blest is now available on Amazon and Barnes at Noble in print, Nook & Kindle versions. Please click on this link:  https://amzn.to/2pNt9Sk