As children of God, we have a responsibility to bear the image of God and to carry out His legacy on earth. As we say at ACF, “In Alaska as it is in Heaven!” The earthly family institution provides great parallels for our adoption into our heavenly family.  

We are all influenced by our biological, earthly families and, at the very least, we reflect them in a physical manner. Some of us come from families that were full of love, respect, and honor for Jesus. As such, we may want to carry on that family legacy. Some of us come from dysfunctional and/or broken families who may not have had a relationship with Jesus, and I imagine as a Christian you have a desire to change that family legacy and make it more God-centric. In both examples, you have a responsibility. 

In the former instance, your responsibility is to carry on the Godly values instilled in you. In the same way, as sons and daughters of Christ we have a responsibility to carry on our heavenly family legacy. We are called to model the love of the Lord as His disciples. We do this by obeying His commandments – to love our neighbors as ourselves, to avoid cheating, lying, stealing, murdering, lusting and all sinful behaviors.  

When we come from a family of unbelievers, our responsibility is to live differently. Today’s verse concludes the passage in which Paul warns Christians not to be unequally yoked. This is often interpreted as not being married to someone who is not also a believer. However, it extends beyond that. Paul’s intention with this passage was to warn the Corinthians not to partake in the lifestyle of unbelievers. “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.” (1 John 2:15) Paul warned the Corinthians that by joining with unbelievers, they were opening themselves up to the temptations that would draw them away from a relationship with Christ. As such, as sons and daughters of Christ we are called to live differently – to abstain from the sins of the world.