Articles
God's Plan for the Family
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Blessed is every one who fears the Lord,
Who walks in His ways.
When you eat the labor of your hands,
You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
In the very heart of your house,
Your children like olive plants
All around your table.
Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the Lord.
-- Psa. 128:1-4
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In a culture where families are falling apart and individuals are living out their days lonely and disconnected, this description of a happy Jewish home highlights two essential factors that combine to produce domestic tranquility.
The first factor is the configuration of the family structure itself: a man, his wife, and their children. This traditional arrangement is not an accident of evolution, but a deliberate design that maximizes the potential of each participant. The facts are simple: Every generation must produce at least enough offspring to replace itself, or else humanity will die out. Also, the long maturation period for young adults requires years of dedicated nurturing and training to prepare them for adulthood. Raising kids successfully is a difficult challenge, and it takes a team to do the job well. Thousands of years of human experience has demonstrated that the ideal arrangement for producing and training children is the mating pair: a man and woman bound together in a committed relationship.
Furthermore, the two partners in this arrangement are not interchangeable. Men and women each bring unique skills to the task of raising a family, and their best chance of success depends on each partner fulfilling his or her role to the best of their ability. Celebrity women have children out of wedlock without shame, and flaunt their single motherhood as a viable alternative. Of course, we don't see the staff of nannies, chefs, and housekeepers that allow them to live this lifestyle comfortably. The vast majority of single moms do not have those resources, and struggle to be good mothers. God's original design works best.
The second factor in creating a happy home is mentioned in the first and last lines of this passage: "...who fears the Lord." Throwing a man and woman together with a bunch of kids without any kind of transcendent objective is a recipe for disaster. There are rules that everyone must honor, a pattern of moral thinking and behavior that enable the family to avoid mistakes and reap the rewards of a stable and happy family life. God's word provides the best blueprint for that pattern.
Humanity can survive and prosper only when traditional families thrive. In the face of a hostile culture, it is more important than ever that each one of us do our part to perpetuate God's model.
--David
