The Family Value

A lot is said about family values in an election year. That seems to signal that the value of the family is weighed only in relation to the political advantages. When other issues surface or the media is consumed with other topics, the family is shoved into the background, buried in the back pages of the newsprint.

Family values must always be front-page headlines to the Christian. We can never allow the importance of the family structure to be minimized by politics, by scandal, or by the courts. The value of the family is a core issue to the foundation of the home, the church, the nation … even the world. From creation to the present a divine order was instituted to bring order to our existence, fulfillment to our lives, and a promise for future generations.

In the beginning God “created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created” (Genesis 5:2). Thus began the start of the human race. The pattern of one man with one woman creating a family is the proven paradigm from all of recorded history. The wisdom of this institution is mirrored in the writing of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians (5:24-33) where he likens the marriage relationship to Christ and the church. From this we may conclude that marriage and family are divinely established to reflect spiritual truths.

As with anything else in creation, attention to maintenance is required in order to preserve the project. Attention must be given to marriage if our relationships are to survive the changes in culture. Our children must be trained and coached to make wise choices if they are to survive the pressures of their peers. The community of our relationships must be cared for if we are to maintain them.

If family values are to survive, we must value the family!