Many who marry never asked: What is the family for? They get married, they work, they make an effort, they buy things, they have children, but they do not know why. This lack of definition leads most people to believe that they are good parents, just by giving their children food, clothing, the house, the school, etc. All this is necessary, but it is not the fundamental thing. What is the purpose of the family?
A. WRONG OBJECTIVES
Some have the main objective of the life of material progress. They live wishing and working to achieve the desired progress (Luke 12.15).
Another to marry to have personal happiness. They are selfish. They think only of receiving and never of giving. They want to be served and they do not work. Failure is true.
Others make the family an end in itself. It is the family of idolatry. The family becomes more important than God.
There are those who marry having the benefits of family life, such as the joy of life in society, giving and receiving affection, the delight of sex, coverage and protection, the joy of having children, etc. All these benefits are legitimate, but we can not make them the goal and purpose for the family.
B. WHAT IS GOD'S PURPOSE FOR THE FAMILY?
God is the creator of the family. He is the owner of the family. The family exists for Him (Romans 11:36). He has a purpose for the family.
Why did God institute marriage? Why did he give Adam a wife? Because God has an eternal purpose.
The family exists to cooperate with God's purpose: to have a family of many children similar to Jesus.
C. HOW DOES THE FAMILY COOPERATE WITH GOD'S PURPOSE?
In the creation of the children towards God:
It is exciting to think that we can have children whom God can adopt as His children. With this purpose in view, all work and effort of the family are transformed into a service for God. To cook, to wash, to pass, to work for daily sustenance, to have children, to raise them, to instruct them, to educate them, all this must be for God.
We are your collaborators Hallelujah! Those who marry for the purpose of having the benefits of marriage will hardly be happy. Soon you will discover that in addition to the benefits, there are jobs, responsibilities, difficulties, struggles and sufferings. God does not form a family for himself at the expense of our happiness. He wants us to be happy and enjoy the benefits that the family offers. But the benefits are secondary.
The important thing is its eternal purpose. How are couples who can not have children left? The truth is that everyone can have children, either by generating or adopting them. There are so many children who need parents! How are those who do not get married? They can dedicate themselves to other aspects of service in the Lord's work. Jesus did not get married, Paul did not have a family, but both gave themselves totally to God's purpose.
In the formation and development of the human being:
Family coexistence places us in the ideal circumstances for our improvement. It is in the family that our character is formed. In it we learn to practice love, humility, patience, kindness and meekness. We also learn responsibility, discipline, subjection, service, respect and tolerance.
Just as we learn to forgive, confess, endure, deny ourselves, exercise authority with love, correct with grace, suffer, pray and trust in God. The home is the training school for both parents and children. God will use family life, more than anything else, to transform our character to the likeness of Jesus Christ (Romans 8.28-29).
As a basis for the growth and building of the church:
This happens when we open our homes so that the lost can find the life of Christ and the teaching of the word of God. "Blessed is he who fears the Lord and walks in his ways, the work of your hands you will eat happy, and everything is going well for you.Your wife inside your house will be like the fruitful vine, your children like olive shoots , the wheel of your table.
This is how the man who fears the Lord will be blessed! May the Lord bless you from Zion, so that you may see the prosperity of Jerusalem during the days of your life, see the children of your children. Peace over Israel! "(Psalm 128).