Why Family?

Notice in the very first book of the Bible (Genesis), God saw early on that “it is not good that man should be alone,” and then He said, “I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Think of it: though Adam had God Himself and all of nature to fellowship with, God still said that man was “alone.” God saw from the beginning that humanity needs humanity.

So God created the First Family. We can see how dysfunctional even that First Family was! Distrust, betrayal, selfishness, envy, and even murder. They weren’t created for those things, but they happened nonetheless. We have all experienced the pain, the heartache, and the upheaval of bad family experience. People who should be our greatest defenders can sometimes act like our most devastating enemies. Knowing this beforehand, God created family anyway.

Does anyone really know what family is supposed to look like, what God’s perfect ideal for family is? It turns out that the Bible does give us pictures of good family life. Remember that mankind isn’t supposed to be alone. Good family means no one needs to face anything alone. There is always someone there to help carry the load, face the situation, and provide good instruction and counsel. When one person is sick or helpless, the family is there to provide healing, protection, and recovery. The family is meant to stand as one unit against the evil of this world.

God makes it very clear that those who are Born Again are members of a family, an eternal family. God is our Father, Christ (the Firstborn) is our Brother, and all believers are related as brothers and sisters regardless of age or worldly position. We have a responsibility to look out for fellow believers, and in a way that exceeds what we would do for anyone else. Read that last sentence again – we are commanded to genuinely and practically love all the members of God’s family, our family. Our God-given obligation to each other is much greater than what it is to unbelievers.

So let’s help our brothers and sisters face this life, and let’s allow them to help us! God designed us to need each other.
(Genesis 2:18-24, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, Galatians 6:10, Romans 8:29, 1 John 3:17, Romans 12:9-10, 1 John 3:16-19 NIV, Galatians 6:1 NIV)