A Family Plan
“A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation.” Ps. 68:5(NKJV)
“As a father pities his children, is the Lord pities those who fear Him.” Ps. 103:13(NKJV)
Since this is the first Sunday in September we will focus on an important aspect of life. September is being recognized as “family month” in Adair County. This is being promoted by our local health department as a way to put emphasis on strengthening families. It is easy to see that family life is facing a challenge to remain vital as a unit of society. A family was the first relationship core established by God, the Creator. Without healthy families there is a weak foundation for any other societal relationships.
The family home should be the first place for one to begin learning how to blend into a society. The family should be the place where one learns of love, responsibility, order, caring, sharing, trust, security, and dependability. Sadly this is not the case in many homes today. Many homes are “broken.” It is not uncommon to use the expression “from a broken home” when referring to family situations.
How do you fix a broken home? It is usually not an easy matter and many give up hope and just “leave.” It is easier to prevent a broken home than to fix one. This is one place where the old saying, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is especially true. Regardless of the past it is possible to change the future but it depends on us to be willing to change.
The beginning of family problems is human selfishness and lack of understanding about what a family is. A family is supposed to be a place of trust, safety, and security. These elements are sadly lacking in many cases. Often it is because there is no example present on how things should be. If we do not know how to be an example “now,” how can we change the future “then?”
Let us not resign ourselves and just live as usual but rise up and do our part to repair “broken homes” and train our heirs to prevent them in the future. Friends, if we do not meet this challenge who will? If it doesn’t begin with us, then with whom does it begin? The scripture says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I believe that. Do you?