By: Pastor Jarren Rogers

“God designed the family to be a spiritual garden that grows flowers for today and seeds for tomorrow” – Dennis and Barbara Rainey

 The Bible talks about family A LOT. There are whole chapters dedicated to listing family lines. The entire Old Testament follows one families’ descendants through the years. The Ten Commandments specifically talks about family.

Families are a big focus of Scripture.

But why?

I think that families, along with marriage, are used by God as a means of holiness. Being a part of a family forces us to take our focus off of ourselves. It makes us think about our relatives, their wants, their needs, and their wellbeing. It is God’s way of turning our selfishness into selflessness.

Let’s look at a few verses that show how God calls us to view family.

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you,” (Exodus 20:12).

The root word in Hebrew for “honor” in this verse can be translated as heavy or burdensome. I think this is the case because the honor we are called to have for our parents is not passive. It is a heavy responsibility that we have. We should be actively honoring our parents, not just waiting for an opportunity to arise.

Here’s another verse from the book of Isaiah:

“What I’m interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families,” (Isaiah 58:7).

We are called to serve our families and be there when they need us. God wants us to step up and help our families out. If you see a need of a family member, you should do everything that you can to fulfill it. It is God’s will for you.

You could write a book on all of the things that Scripture says about family, and I’m sure there are already some great books on that very subject, but the fact of the matter is this:

Families are one of God’s means of holiness. Our families should be loving, respectful, caring, hopeful, building, dignifying, honoring, God-fearing groups of people that God can use, not only for the betterment of the individual but for the betterment of the world.

Will you allow God to use your family?

Parents: Go out to eat with your family. Set the example for Christlike living and pray for God to put your family in situations where He can use your family to build His Kingdom.