My idea of family values is when a married couple conduct their lives inside the home or outside in a matter
that will be of the best influence on their children using
the best tool given to them from God, which is, Love. To implement this tool, the parents must first use it
toward each other.
When children grow up in a home where love abides, Then
they too will learn to use this tool the way that God met
it to be use. Love is not an emotion, nor lust, nor physical
or sexual attraction. It is however, a matter of choice.
We simply choose whether to love or not. Surely, once two people agree to marry, the love they have for each other
can grow more deeply over the years if they allow it to.
Their love for each other may be tried many times even
if both are faithful to each other. However, their
determination to remain in love through trying times will
only strengthen the love they have. Love is a concern for
each other's welfare, a caring attitude for the health,
well being and feelings of others. Besides God, your
family deserves your first love and should be foremost
in your heart.
I believe children can sense love from their parents even before birth. So the love between a man and a woman should
be established first, before marriage and children, then a
solid foundation is laid for the family to build upon. Any
other way will likely end up as what is commonly called a dysfunctional family, where the outcome can result in teen
pregnancies, increased welfare recipients and crime.
God provides the main tool for a stable family,in return
the family should love and worship God on a regular basis. Children should be taught to pray. Prayer should be included
in the daily lifestyle around the home.
Although our parents brought us up in Church and we
learned to talk to God in prayer, I had gotten away from Church and Jesus, which for many years, even while raising my sons, I
didn't attend Church. Now, my wife, youngest son and I attend Sunday school and worship services regularly and I believe we have grown closer as a family because we have grown closer to God. Life doesn't seem to be so much of a struggle anymore since I have given my life over to Christ, because he will carry my burdens for me if only I will ask.
I wished that I had seen to it that my sons were taught
this from the very beginning of their understanding because
the world has such a strong pull on our children. Jesus is
the only answer for that. He is the only one that can save
us and strengthen us against the wiles of this world.
Besides giving my life back to Jesus, the greatest joy
that I had ever experienced was the two times that my wife, out of love for me, gave birth to our sons. When James was born,
the experience was like something unbelievable had happened, as though I had just accomplished something so great that only
a few others had done before me. I watched him grow inside
his mother's stomach for nine months and all at once he comes
into this world breathing and crying. Without any understanding of what had just happened to him except that he had an immediate need for love and care which Lori and I have already provided for him from the time that we had chosen to love each other for a lifetime.
Four years later we went through all the same unbelievable
joy again when Jason was born. I've seen newborn babies before
my sons came along but, what a wonder, what a miracle, what a
joy that this thing happened to me. Now I think, what a great
God I have, that loved me enough to give me something that I
had yearned for. A good wife, and children, a family for me
to love and care for.
God had shown a great love for me, because he caused me to
be born and raised in a good family and he has given me a good family, but most of all he sent his Son, Jesus, to bear my sins
and die for me. Yet only in the last four years have I chose
to love him back and try to show that love in at least some
small way.
So what are family values? At the very top of the list is, God. God should be of the highest value to a family because he
is the creator, the Father, the head of all families. Through
his Son, Jesus' he should be first in the family. Secondly,
the married couple should be considered as one, not individuals. Husbands should love their wives and wives should love their husbands till death. Thirdly, children should be taught to honor their parents with love and respect for their position in the family.
All of the above can and will be accomplished if parents
will attend Church and Sunday school services to worship and learn about God's will. Believe it or not Satan is at work in this world. He is a deceptive liar and he causes the world to turn against itself so that as many as he can get will go down with him.
He had his way with me in the past, because I was back-slidden and unchurched. Many times since my sons were
born, I had sought after my own desires for material things,
for good times at the local bars or at parties. As much as I
loved my family I put myself first many times before them.
Satan and the evils of this world didn't have to pull on me
very hard because I didn't have Jesus in my life. Although I never let my sons go hungry, I can't help but think that they
did starve in those times for attention from me when I was
away from them seeking to satisfy my own selfish desires. I
don't even know why I didn't spend as much time as possible
with my sons because they were such a delight to me.
When the boys were very small and on up until almost
teens they used to watch for me to come home from work. I
could almost always count on them to be looking out the window
or front door when I pulled up into the driveway. I could have been icy cold from head to toe, but the sight of those little faces grinning and waving their hands at me would warm me all over. God, I wish it could still be that way, but I had let Satan have his way with me and therefore has taken a toil on me
and the ones I love most. I wish that I had made my way to
God a long time ago and taken my family with me. I can't help
but think that we would have been better armed against the temptations of the world if I had.