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Developing Your Family Mission Statement

ByJeffrey Dean

God has a unique plan for each of us and our families. Our families were made to do something in a way unlike any other family ever can. Committing to a Family Mission Statement can help us and our families fulfill God's unique plan!

You are no accident. You are a person of significance and meaning. When God made you, He was really showing off. Colossians 1:16 says, “Everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible…everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.” The keyword here is “everything”! Everything excludes nothing. That means you are included in the everything!

To God, everything about you matters—your goals, aspirations, weaknesses, challenges, desires, ambitions, choices, relationships, past, present, and future. It all matters to Him. God has blessed you with certain abilities and talents that are only for you. He hasn’t made you like anyone else. You are unique. And God has something for you to do that no one else can do better than you.

Just as you are unique, so too is your family. God has a unique plan to use your family to do something in a way unlike any other family ever can. God has given you your family and He knows that when you work together, each using your individual gifts and abilities, you can do things that will honor Him and impact this world for the good.

Your family has a mission that no other family can ever have because no two families are the same.

For some families, they adopt a mission of opening their house regularly, inviting friends, families from school, co-workers, or people in the neighborhood into their home to eat, have fun, and just enjoy community. Some families are global mission-minded, taking trips together with other families to different parts of the world to feed the hungry, offer medical support, provide clean drinking water, and more. And, for other families, their mission is to be a family that prays – for the world, for our nation’s leaders, for people who don’t know Jesus, and for each other.

What is the mission of your family?

Since you are spending a lot of time at home with your family, this is a great discussion question you can have now. As you begin, consider casting your vision for the need and benefit of adopting a Family Mission Statement. Explain how this Statement can include whatever the family deems important. You may want to include broader suggestions about how your family handles finances, discipline, devotional night, movie night, and more. There is no right or wrong way to develop your Statement. The important thing is that every family member contributes.

Give each family member time to consider what they believe the mission of your family should be. You may want to allow one week for each family member to organize their thoughts. Here are five questions to think through as you talk about developing a Family Mission Statement. As you do, be open to listening to what each of your family members has to say about their vision and suggestions for the mission of your family.

  1. Mark 16:15 says, “You are to go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere.” 1 Chronicles 16:24 says that we are to, “Declare His glory among the nations, His wonderful works among all peoples.” What commonality do these verses in Mark and Chronicles hold as it relates to the mission of our family?
  2. If you could change the world for the better, what would you do?
  3. What are you passionate about?
  4. Is there an individual, non-profit, or organization in our community that needs help? If so, what suggestions do you have for our family to jump in and help?
  5. What are you best at doing? And, how might your gifts help our family become more mission-minded?

Make a plan to re-visit your Family Mission Statement throughout the year. The hope is that as your family commits to the mission, you each begin to see God leading you in unique and exciting areas of outreach. Additionally, you will most likely see that your family grows closer and more committed to one another and to make an impact on your community and the world. Take time as a family to prayerfully commit your Family Mission Statement to one another and God.

Here’s a helpful printable guide for creating your family’s mission statement.

For the family,
Jeffrey Dean
www.jeffreydean.com

Jeffrey Dean is a radio host, family & student-culture expert, speaker, ordained pastor and author. As an authority on Generation Z and family culture, he has spoken to more than 4 million people throughout our nation’s churches, universities, conferences prisons, and public & private schools. Jeffrey serves as host of The Jeffrey Dean Show, a two-hour call-in radio show each Saturday night equipping families to be family strong. Jeffrey also serves as a contributing writer for Stand Firm Magazine, Horizon, Fusion, and The Brink, and his monthly column appears in Direction and Horizon Magazines. Through his messages, books, blog, podcast, and more, Jeffrey equips parents with the tools they need in order to be their kid’s hero. He also keeps a pulse on this generation to help students win in life! Connect with Jeffrey at www.jeffreydean.com.

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