Rock Solid Principles for Strong Families

A teacher gave fifth graders a writing assignment. It began, "I wish…" Looking for materialistic answers, she was surprised to find that twenty out of thirty talked about the family. “I wish my parents wouldn’t fight and my father would come back.” “I wish my mother didn’t have a boyfriend.” “I wish I could get straight A’s so my father would love me.” “I wish I had one mother and father. I have three moms and three dads and they botch up my life.” 

Sounds all too familiar. A lot of studies have come and gone on the family. We know a lot about what makes them fail. What we need to know is what makes them succeed.  As we continue the series, Standing with Conviction While Swimming in a World of Compromise, no area is more prone to worldly compromise than the family. This week we will look into six principles for maintaining a strong family life. 

1. Commitment to the family: What is truly first in your life?  What we think is often at odds with our actions.  Successful families put family first.
2. Time together: There is no such thing as quality versus quantity in successful family life.  It is both.  What child has ever complained that their parents spend too much time with them?
3. Appreciation: In a world that is constantly attacking and tearing down our self worth and self esteem, home should be the one place where we know we are safe, appreciated and loved.
4. Communication:  Someone said, "The family that talks together walks together."  Surveys have shown that the average time family members spend in actual talking with one another during the day is less than 30 minutes.  Sad to think we often know more about the people we work with than our own families.
5. Effective Crisis Management: Strong families know how to cope with problems.  Problems don't destroy families.  It it those families who don't cope with problems in the right way that are destroyed.
6. Spiritual health:  Strong families make this a priority, not a side issue.  Children in these families always know what they are doing on Sunday.  Bible reading and prayer are daily occurrences, not just tools of crisis times.

This Sunday we will explore these in more detail and learn how we can stand with conviction as Joshua said, "as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

Praying for a great move of God in our families,

Pastor Jeff