Meaning in Family

In Joshua chapter 24, the leader of Israel, Joshua, made a bold declaration, not simply on his behalf, but on behalf of his entire family. We read this:
15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

He challenged God's people to make a decision, and it's a decision that we can apply in our lives even today.  We have to consider whom we will serve, whose ways we will follow, whose truth we believe. And, we are called to also lead our families in pursuing that truth.  There are many different influences in our world today, but there is one way, through Jesus, that leads to life.  We can be challenged to live according to His ways in the power of His Spirit, in our homes.

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The Bible teaches clearly about the significance of the institution of the family, and it is a healthy building block of society today.  And, a family which is centered on Christ reflects God's love and presence. Psalm 68 says:
4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name Yah, And rejoice before Him.
5 A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation.
6 God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

It has taken a real beating over the past few years, yet it still ranks #1 in a new Pew survey about what brings meaning to a person's life.  Even though there are those who would want to redefine it, diminish its purpose, and even accuse people of idolizing it, the family is still what a majority of those surveyed identified as bringing the most meaning to their lives.

Glenn Stanton of Focus on the Family, writing at The Federalist about the survey, stated:

When asked the open-ended question about what brings the greatest meaning to their lives, where they could freely say what came to mind without prompting, 69 percent of Americans said family. The next highest factor was one’s career, but by half as many votes. Third was money, but with three times fewer adults listing it compared to family. Nineteen percent said friends gave their lives a major sense of meaning, and a measly 5 percent said their pets did.

He added:

When it came to a similar, but more definitive question, “What is the MOST important source of meaning in your life?” — determining the intensity of their answer — family was still the run-away winner. Second to family in this more specific close-ended question, but by half, was one’s religious faith, at 40 and 20 percent of Americans saying so respectively.

And, as Stanton pointed out:

This is not a one-off finding. Family has been consistently listed among the most important life goals and sources of satisfaction and happiness for Americans for as long as such surveys have been conducted. Regardless of how materialistic, politically divided, and atomistic our culture gets, family and faith still play very substantial roles in the human heart.

Even though there is an abundance of "divorce, cohabitation, and unmarried childbearing," Stanton insists this isn't the ideal; not the life people would have chosen for themselves. He contends, "It is the nature of the human heart and soul to deeply desire enduring marriage and raising happy children."

So, the family, even though under attack and battered, still holds a place in the hearts of Americans, as it always has. Stanton writes, "We must not forget that one of the most important aspects of being human is that we are made for others, and we cannot live in isolation. We are made to love and be loved. And the most important and meaningful places where people find these are with their family and with God — the very local and transcendent."  

To crave this type of relationship is not to idolize the family, but to fulfill God's purpose.  And, if our families are submitted to the Lordship of Christ, then we are operating in line with His intended order.  There are a few principles that we can consider.

First of all, the nuclear family is not outdated or passe, but clearly defined as God's standard.  We see, according to Genesis 2, that He intends for male and female to become one flesh, and through that relationship, children come into the world.  Certainly, there are cultural trends that have resulted in variations on this original theme, but we can be convinced that God has a plan for our families.

We know that our families help each of us to pursue and fulfill God's purpose, and in that context, we can teach our children His principles.  It's been said that our homes are incubators for Christian teaching and behavior, and we can learn a lot about ourselves by self-observing how we behave in our family context.  Even in fractured home situations, we can trust God to do an amazing work and bring healing and restoration.

We also know that we can rejoice in the relationships that God has given to us.  Our most important relationship, of course, is our vertical relationship with our Heavenly Father.  Then, we can build horizontal relationships; we have the opportunity to let God's love through us and model His character as we grow in Christ.