Crafting a Biblical Family Vision Statement

In my previous post on Blessing Your Children, I promised that I would also address crafting a Family Vision Statement. My husband and I crafted a vision statement for our family. It has aided us in decisions and encouraged us to press on during difficult times. Friends often ask us about our vision statement and I wanted to explain why we have one and how you, too, can easily craft a vision statement for your family!

I am sure you’ve been in some business meeting, committee function, or college required class where you had to sit and listen to someone yammer on about a mission statement, goals, or a vision. When I was a teacher, those meetings that tried to get us all “Rah Rah! We’re excited about our school district’s Vision” at 7AM made me want to vomit a little bit. I was more preoccupied with getting my science lesson ready for the day and I didn’t really care about the school’s broader goals.

But when something YOU value (like your family) needs to be on track then a Vision statement can be highly motivating and inspiring. Plus, if you don’t know where you are going, how on Earth are you going to get there? A Vision statement plants a flag at your desired destination so you can look at it and line up your next step.

Let me show you our vision statement, explain how it has helped our family, and walk you through how you can write a Biblical Family Vision Statement for your own crew.

Our Vision Statement

During our short engagement, Brandon and I wrote this vision statement for our family. I don’t recall where we got the idea from, but I am glad we did it! We spent time praying about this, and both of us gathered Bible verses that resonated with what we wanted for our family. This is what we ended up with:

Our vision statement is based on Isaiah 61:3 where God’s people are referred to as “Oaks of Righteousness”. (Now you also have a hint about where Acorns to Oaks originated!) We also used phrases from Jeremiah 17:8 and Psalm 1:3.

Benefits of a Vision Statement

Our vision statement keeps us on course.

If you don’t know where you are headed, you probably won’t get there! There are seasons where our family feels a little lost. When we are floundering we go back to our vision statement as a type of North Star to point us in the right direction!

A family vision helps us evaluate decisions.

Life is really made up of one decision after another. One step at a time! For each decision and each step we can easily evaluate it with questions such as:

Does this support our family’s vision?

Will this help us to reach our goals?

Does this take our family in a different direction?

A vision statement encourages a family identity.

We want to be a close knit family and a common purpose helps to accomplish that. Being able to communicate to our kids “this is what our family is all about, this is what sets our family apart” goes a long way toward a sort of team spirit!

How to craft one that is meaningful

While you are welcome to simply use our vision statement, it will be more personal if you craft your own. Here are some steps to go about it and a printable to help you put it all together.

Start by meeting

You can meet as a couple or as a family (depending on the ages of your children and whether you want them to be involved in the process or not). Do some brainstorming together and agree to pray and continue to gather ideas for a set amount of time. Then meet again and try put it all together!

Brainstorm phrases and words that describe your family.

Perhaps you are all Bible nerds, or musical, or artistic. Perhaps your family tends to be outgoing or more introverted. Your identity and personality are shaped by God. The same is true for your family’s identity. You aren’t trying to create your own family identity, rather examine the traits, strengths, and weaknesses that God has given you to work with.

Pray and search the Bible.

When we ask for wisdom, God gives generously! (James 1:5) So prayer is paramount in this process. You need and want God to guide your brainstorming and family discussions.

Searching the Bible is also critical. You’ll want whatever you come up with to be aligned with God’s will for you life, and that isn’t a mystery! For example, God has already told you in Romans 12:13 to be given to hospitality. So, if your family loves to show hospitality you know that passion is aligned with what God wants for you. If, for example, your family is musically inclined there a host of passages that command you to sing praises to God – in fact you already know that you’ll be doing just that for all of eternity! (Psalm 100 and Revelation 15)

Ask some questions:

What do I want my kids and grandchildren to say about me at my funeral? Grandma was passionate about ______.

What passions and talents does our family have?

Is there a Christian calling (church planting, missions, evangelism, hospitality, worship, Bible study, prayer, etc.) that resonates with us?

What Bible verses make us respond with , “Yes, I want THAT for my children and grandchildren”?

What stands out to others about your family?

Write it, edit it, memorize it, display it!

Take some time to write out you vision statement. It can be as short as “Our family exists to proclaim the Good News of Jesus” or it could be long like ours.

Find a way to display your vision statement – get your pinterest on and make some crafty wall art! Or make a bookmark for everyone in your family with your family vision statement. Find some way to display it so that everyone is frequently reminded. A quick search of Etsy for “Custom Signs” will give you loads of options or you could request a custom order from my friends at HentgesCraftsLLC.

Use my Printable!

Use my printable to have a handy place to do all your brainstorming!

Conclusion

I would love to hear about what you come up with! Share your family vision statement in the comments! If you aren’t already subscribed please join us! We’d love to have you on this journey of homemaking with eternal significance. If you like this content please use the social share buttons so that others can read this too!

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