Family is essential. God has designed mankind to be a part of a family. We each need family to care for us in infancy; guide our physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual growth; support the transitions into adulthood; help with raising children; and finally care in old age.

How sad it is that this support system isn’t as valued as it should be. Our culture has forfeited the value of family. Church, community, and culture are suffering because the value of family and family values has been degraded and abandoned by so many.

God has a perfect plan for great families in his Word. Wives, respect your husbands–Ephesians 5:22-24. Husbands, love your wives–Ephesians 5:25-30. Children, obey your parents in the Lord–Ephesians 6:1-3. Fathers, raise your children–Ephesians 6:4. The plan isn’t hard to understand, but because we are people it is often hard to carry out. Don’t give up. Live for God. Live for your family. Honor the home. Be a blessing to your name.

God has given us both a physical family and a spiritual family. Both are vital. Both support one another. Neither is complete without the other. God adds people to his spiritual family when they are baptized–Acts 2:41, 47. God has planned for his church to glorify Him and to edify her members. God is glorified, souls are edified, and the lost are saved when the church is functioning well as a family. Notice in Acts 2:44 that “all who believed were together, and had all things in common.” The church was a family support system. The church also provided for spiritual and intellectual growth which are so essential for life–“They continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching and fellowship and breaking of bread the prayers” (Acts 2:42).

I pray that we can value God’s family systems and enjoy those family systems to the fullest.