Family – The Vanishing Building Block of Social Health. The family has long been the unit upon which a strong society is built. Families have long instilled values, beliefs and norms in family members (especially in children) that support a peaceful, well-functioning society. Families have traditionally been the source of values such as responsibility, honesty, generosity and so on, passed down to ensure society’s ongoing health. The connection between family nurturing and a successful society is obvious, as strong family units build to a stable social framework that provides economic support for children, for the elderly, for the sick and for the unemployed, thereby reducing the burden on society.
But the American family has undergone significant change in recent decades. This includes a rise in divorces and children being born to unmarried men and women living together often resulting in single-parent families, same-sex marriages, adultery, increased substance abuse and a general decline in moral values.
What Does God Have to Say About the Family?
God has a lot to say about the family! The first institution God established for human interaction was a family (Genesis 2:22-24). He created a wife (Eve) for the first man (Adam) and joined them in marriage. Citing this event, Jesus later said, “What God has joined together, let no man separate.” (Matthew 19:6). God’s plan was for one man and one woman to remain married until one of them dies. He desires to bless that union with children who are to be raised “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4; see also Psalm 127:3). Most family problems emerge when we rebel against God’s design for the family.
In the Bible, God gives clear instructions about how family members are to treat each other. God’s plan is that husbands love their wives in the same way that Christ loves His church (Ephesians 5:25, 33). Wives are to respect their husbands and submit to their leadership (Ephesians 5:22-24, 33; 1 Peter 3:1). And children are to obey their parents (Ephesians 6:1-4; Exodus 20:12). How many family problems might be solved if husbands, wives and children followed God’s basic rules? And what is God’s purpose for family? One of the most important purposes of the family is to fill the earth with God-fearing, morally matured, emotionally sound, Spirit-filled, righteousness-working, God-worshiping young people, who in turn, will do the same after they become parents. God’s gift of the family is precious because it is the institution to which His grace comes to deliver us from sinful pride, from a life lived in the bondage of self. Family is the first place children can find out about love, companionship and forgiveness—where parents can set children a good example of how to live a God-centered life. And families can play an important role in the community, providing support for other families, care for the infirmed and elderly and adoption of orphans. Healthy families are cohesive with open communication, and parents lead by example as they set clear expectations and limits. Healthy families stick together.
And what does God say to the children in families? In Ephesians 6:1-4, God says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother,’ which is the first commandment with a promise: ‘that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.’ And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” Proverbs 22:6, 15 says, “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far away.”
A return to God’s family design is the best way for the quick rebuilding of a damaged society!
Pray: “Lord, I pray that You will guide Your
people back to Your family model.”
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