by Donna Faughn<\/p>\n
I’m thinking back to a time several years ago when our children were still living at home with us but were old enough to go out with friends or attend a church activity without us. I can still remember, to this day, what was said to them almost (if not every time) they left the house. It serves as the title for this post today – “Remember who you are and Whose you are.” I think both of them would tell you they remember this statement.<\/p>\n
You see, for all the years they were raised in our home, we did our best to instill these two principles in them. We didn’t use these exact words when they were little, but we were trying to teach them that they belonged to the Faughn family and that the Faughn family was trying to follow what God wanted us to do and be.<\/p>\n
Were we perfect at this? Absolutely not. Just like most parents, we made mistakes in parenting, but the principles we were trying to instill were still the right ones – especially after they became Christians.<\/p>\n
So what exactly did we mean when we said those words? It’s really quite simple. We wanted them to remember that they had the Faughn family name and that meant something. It meant that when people found out, based on their actions or speech, that they were part of that earthly family, they either brought good feelings or shame to the family name. We wanted them to take pride in their family heritage.<\/p>\n
More importantly, after they became Christians, we wanted them always to remember that they were part of the family of God. They belonged to His family and were representatives of the speech and behavior He would want them to have. This isn’t something we can take lightly. As Christians universally, and as members of a local church which belongs to Christ, we need to be constantly aware of how we act and what we say.<\/p>\n
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because a thought entered my mind that caused me to really reflect on something. That thought concerns our church families. Here is the exact thought I had: “Do my speech and my behavior build up or tear down the body of Christ?” When I’m disgruntled about something, do my words and actions build up the church, or do they focus on my feelings? When the elders make a decision I don’t like, do I talk privately with them about it, or do I blurt out to anyone who will listen just how I feel about it? And elders, when you are questioned about a decision, do you approach it with humility, or get angry because you were questioned?<\/p>\n
You see, where you worship is the body of Christ, and you are either building it up or tearing it down. You are either lifting Him up for others to see and be drawn to, or you are crucifying Him once again. How sad to think that my actions and my speech might be destroying the good name of the church that bears His name.<\/p>\n
Yes, we wanted our children to respect the Faughn name. More importantly, we want them always to remember to Whom they belong.<\/p>\n
I guess my message is for all of us to look deeply within ourselves and ask: Are we remembering who we are and Whose we are?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Donna Faughn I’m thinking back to a time several years ago when our children were still living at home with us but were old enough to go out with friends or attend a church activity without us. I can still remember, to this day, what was said to them almost (if not every time)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1028],"tags":[1666],"class_list":["post-92475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","category-parenting","tag-example"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":90545,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-must-have-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":92475,"position":0},"title":"We Must Have the Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Adam Faughn In our world, we sometimes hear people who speak of how they want a relationship with Jesus, but they do not want much (if anything) to do with the church. This is not new; in fact, some of you will remember the days when the saying, \"give\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33327,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-my-parents-taught-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":92475,"position":1},"title":"What My Parents Taught Me","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant Vanguard Magazine, November 1982 All parents teach their children - consciously, subconsciously, positively, negatively, by example, by word. Children are even taught to be what their parents fail to teach. In our generation, many parents have abdicated their teaching roles to TV, schools, their children's peers,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57098,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-to-teach-your-father-or-mother-the-truth\/","url_meta":{"origin":92475,"position":2},"title":"How to Teach Your Father or Mother the Truth","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Adapted from an article by Edward Good via Gospel Power, Vol. 16, No. 29, July 19, 2009. What a difficult thing it can be to teach your father and mother the truth of the gospel! There are so many Christians whose heart's desire and prayer to God is for their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10369,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-remember-the-sabbath-imply-prior-observance\/","url_meta":{"origin":92475,"position":3},"title":"Does “remember the Sabbath” imply prior observance?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 21, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does \"remember the Sabbath day\" imply that the Sabbath day was observed prior to the giving of the Ten Commandments? Answer: The Sabbath day was observed prior to the giving of the Law. When God gave the Israelites manna, He told them to gather the manna for six days,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7241,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/saving-our-own\/","url_meta":{"origin":92475,"position":4},"title":"Saving Our Own","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 9, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Connie W. Adams Over the years brethren have asked me a question which has always amazed me. Upon returning from a gospel meeting and reporting that so many obeyed the gospel, someone has been sure to ask \"Were they just all young people?\" Or \"Were they just children of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34986,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/lessons-from-the-mamertine-prison\/","url_meta":{"origin":92475,"position":5},"title":"Lessons from the Mamertine Prison","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant Do you ever feel discouraged, defeated, alone, forsaken, or any other word used to describe one who is \"down in the dumps?\" I'm sure we have all been affected by one or more of these words in our lifetime. If you are fortunate to have escaped\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Mamertine-Prison-300x220.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92475\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}