Blood Thicker Than Water

There is a saying that “blood is thicker than water”. I remember as a child when I would choose a friend over standing up for my brother or sister or if I would take a stranger’s side against family. My father would quickly reprimand me and say, “Blood is thicker than water, you have to remember who is family”.

Well, as a child, I may have sometimes been disappointed in who God had chosen to be my family. I often questioned him, when things were not good at home, about what he was thinking. As an adult, I not only see the futility of those thoughts, but also see what a great job God did picking out my parents and siblings and grandparents for me. They were so instrumental in helping me to become the woman I am today.

When I read the papers, watch the news and see what others say about Christians as a whole, I find myself getting indignant. How dare they? They don’t know us! The whole situation causes me to begin trying harder to be a better person and to show the light of Christ living in me to others by the way I live and the way I act.

I think that the annoyance comes from the fact that often we are judged just because we are Christians. Yet when I have had illnesses in the past or have lost loved ones, who were the first people to bring over a casserole and send a card? It was my Christian friends.

I live hundreds of miles away from most of my relatives, now. My church brothers and sisters and my Christian friends have long since become part of my family and I a part of theirs. When someone speaks against them, and I know their heart, I understand more fully what my father was saying in “blood is thicker than water”. Because the bond I have with other Believers is sealed by the blood shed for me on Calvary. Jesus’ blood is the bond I have with these dear people; fellow believers and Christian friends.

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Donetta Garman is the author of "Growing Up Ugly" (Tate Publishing, 2008) and a wife of a rural church pastor. She resides in Osceola, Missouri with her husband of twenty one years, Gar Garman, on an idyllic spot in the Ozark foothills.
© 2008 Donetta Garman - All rights reserved. Used with permission.