Why Should the Family Matter So Much?

The simple reason the family matters so much is that the family matters to God.

He showed this from the very beginning when he created the world, all its creatures and the pinnacle of His creative process – humankind! In Gen chapter 1, after He had created the first human beings [v.27] God commanded them to “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth…” [v.28]. That’s God’s purpose for the family – to build up families, and in turn, communities, tribes and nations. Before He created societies or nations or even the church, God made the family.

The family unit is God’s basic building block for community, nation and church. This is how we should view the role of the family in society. This why we need to take good care of our families. If we build with inferior materials, we get inferior products.

Why does God put such great store on having godly families? The prophet Malachi (in 2:15) tells us,“….And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.” Our godly families are not to be ends in themselves. It is from such families that we raise god-fearing children who will in turn bring forth their children in the love and fear of Almighty God.

And what is the foremost concern for Christian families today?

I believe that the challenge to Christian families these days comes not only from without but also from within. Surely, there are forces drawing our families to apostacy, that is, to deny God. However, nowadays these forces are not only worldly, that is to say, unbelief or wrong belief, but also wrong belief masquerading as right belief – as in cults, churches with peculiar doctrines, prosperity gospel, etc.

Establishing good foundations for belief in God is essential. Deuteronomy 6:7 exhorts us to teach the commandments of the Lord our children in every instance – whether at home or on the road; at rest or at work. In order to do this, parents must themselves know & love God. One way is to be steeped in God’s Word and to know it well.

Father & mother must also love one another. Children watch & learn more than when they listen – values are caught not taught.

I wish I could give a “to-do list” where step 2 follows step 1, each step coming after another, and so on. However, everything is inter-connected & inter-dependent. The relationship between husband-wife; being godly parents; and role model for children; are all inter-connected so that they create the environment for godly values to be taught AND caught. Bringing these together with sound teaching from God’s Word all help the family to differentiate sound doctrine from unsound; truths from untruths.