Love and Family
“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (Col 3:14)
You are warmly welcome!
We don’t really have to quote Aristotle to be convinced that man is by nature a social animal; about things fundamental to human fulfillment, Stephen Covey also offers the summary, 'to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy'. The need to love is our social need to relate to other people, to belong, to love and to be loved. This need is fulfilled at various levels: in loose acquaintances, close friendships, and at the deepest level, in the family. The Creator’s design was that this social need should find its ultimate satisfaction in family – a foretaste of our relationship with God as Father.
The family institution has suffered abuse in the course of time: many boys engage girls, then they can’t sustain the commitment and they let go; many consummate immature love in pre- and extra-marital sex that results in physical and emotional health hazards and lost children; others stop cultivating the relationships within a seemingly healthy family, and in goes stale soon or later! In these last days, the abuses have gone to the epitome of not only openly condoning but also legally authorizing unnatural relations in the name of freedom.
However, regardless of where you find yourself, it is important to cultivate healthy relationships with those who are now your family members, in the will and purpose of God. Paul the Apostle offers the view that true love is the indispensable binder in any healthy relationship. In fact, love binds all virtues together in perfect unity. In family, love goes beyond philanthropy, which overtly takes an expression of material giving, but is instead expressed in willing submission, mutual respect, obedience, considerateness, wholehearted service – and all these not just for a show or for fear of repercussions, but in reverence for the Lord.
One would wonder why a world and humanity so hungry for love, relatedness and belonging engages in heartbreaks and wars of the magnitude around us! With healthy families founded on love, other virtues would manifest in society and beat down selfishness, greed, malice, envy, and such other vices that keep dragging us back. Only God who is the source of real and true love will save us. We need Him to teach us and grow us in love that will impact positively.
God bless you!