Our New Family Culture

When a child is adopted into a new family, everything is unfamiliar. The child quickly notices the unique norms of their new household—the different meals, bedtimes, conversations, and rules that all diverge from their former life. Before, their life was shaped around orphanhood; now, they learn how to be a part of a family. As they observe their parents and siblings in day-to-day life, things gradually begin to click: This is how we treat each other here.

As children adopted into God’s family, we experience a similar reorientation. 1 Peter tells us that before Christ made a way for us, we were “not a people,” as we lived without hope in the world. He describes the culture we learned in the days before our adoption when sin seemed normal to us. We grew up in toxic cultures of self-seeking and slavery to sin. In the world, we’re always at risk of losing our place. We quickly learned to fit in, to watch what we did and said so that no one would be offended—anything to keep from being rejected.

This was an exhausting way to live. By contrast, our new family in Christ is a huge relief!

Peter offers some descriptions of our new family culture. Here we love each other. We show hospitality. We learn that each of us has received unique gifts to share with others. We learn that love is the most important part of our new lives and that it covers a multitude of offenses.

Like any former orphan, we may struggle to acclimate to our new home. Old habits die hard, especially when the people around us are fellow adoptees who slip up from time to time. We may find ourselves drifting back toward our “family of origin,” taking on the patterns that shaped us at a young age.

This is when it’s important to look to the Father, who sought us out and brought us into a warm, safe, loving home. Regardless of your background, or even the ways you are currently struggling to measure up, the Father has already made his decision. You’re part of the family now, and there is grace to learn a new way of being.