The Bible emphasizes the importance of family. One might think it is important to gain power and change the world for the better. But it might be just as good if not better to just live peacefully and loving with your own family. Yes, maintaining a family relationship is very important. Families can share love and that makes them very awesome to have. God is love. Fostering powerful and lasting love is the only thing that carries over into the next life.
One complaint about the Bible normally is,”Why are there long lists of genealogies? Who cares about descendants?” Well God cares about descendants. God cares about your family and people who have came before. That is one reason they are there. Because families and descendants are so important to God, he let his holy scriptures be filled with them. It may be hard to read for us, so there is no foul in skipping across the genealogies, but we should keep the notion of the importance of descendants. God loves our families.
In the Old Testament when God blessed people, he blessed their family also. God saved Noah from death, and he also saved his family. God promised Abraham wealth and descendants, which is also blessing his family by extension. When God saved Rahab from destruction that her city was taking, he also saved her family.
We see in Timothy that a man not capable of managing his own family should not be in charge of the church of God. 1 Timothy 3:5 GNT For if a man does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of the church of God? and 1 Timothy 3:12 GNT A church helper must have only one wife, and be able to manage his children and family well. So it makes you wonder… If a man is not capable of managing his own family, what other things is he not capable of managing?
One thing I’ve found out about love is that it amplifies itself over time. The more you love and are loved by someone, the closer the bonds you have between each other. This is one reason I feel the Kingdom of God will have no problem staying together over Eternity. People will grow in love over time, and desire each others company more and more, so the love is shining brighter each day of eternity. Without Jesus, disputes would arise which could sour some people’s love. Families on Earth might not have Jesus and when disputes arise, there can be splits in a family. But in Heaven, disputes will be settled by Jesus. Jesus knows more than anyone can even imagine some being knowing. Jesus knows all. So by Jesus knowing all, he’ll know who is in the right and who is in the wrong in a situation. Also by having a neutral party correct someone instead of a biased side, or the opposing person in the conflict, no ill will happens as a result. Jesus will settle things, and both sides will be happy. So God’s kingdom is a kingdom all about love. Remember the LORD’s prayer. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. You know God wants us to be loving towards each other, so until we get into Heaven, it is probably best to make concessions to someone you love instead of escalating an argument that might ruin love.
Another thing I’ve realized about people who cooperate in a family is that the family grows over time. People gain more things, and since you’re sharing a roof, you have one heating bill instead of two. There is much to gain in having a family. So if you make concessions on certain points, you might give up one thing, but what you gain through cooperation is much more valuable! Of course, what you gain through cooperation is hard to quantify, so some people don’t understand this major gain when they’re looking over a small unit of petty squabble.
For example, lets say someone buys two brothers two lottery tickets and hands them to pick which one they want. Let us say both brothers fight over the first ticket claiming it is lucky. There is a minor fight over it, and one concedes half way, not liking getting the second one. Then the brother with the first ticket wins a large sum of money. The second one fights with the first one so hard that they stop talking with each other. Love is lost here. The second one should just be happy for their brother. This isn’t out of desiring to suck up for some of the money. This is out of desire to preserve the love between them. When dealing with people you love and care about, it is important to give into concessions easily. And to a lesser extent it is good dealings with others since we’re called to love all. Remember this life is only temporary, it is more important that people are happy and loving than it is to get any minor personal gain. Heavenly treasures far out weigh Earthly treasures, and one way to get Heavenly treasures is through loving people on Earth. There is a caveat to this: If you find someone who sees your concessions as a weakness, that is a person to avoid and not become friends with.
I’m a very thankful man for I think I have one of the best families ever. Both grandparents have quality families that I can hang out with either side. The love we all share for each other is real and great. Our holidays are filled with loud conversations with everyone talking over each other, and great excitement. No one cares if you chill out by yourself or if you hang out with the group. We don’t put any effort into bonding, but that is what happens. I think some families would require effort into bonding, and that if you need to put effort in, you should do so because eventually it becomes easier and easier. I think love in its purest form on Earth comes straight through your family.
Now my family is awesome, but maybe yours is not. You should try and repair any broken ties you have with people if you can. Try your best to repair relationships, and if you can’t get relationships with all, stick with the individuals that love you. A broken family is a sad thing, but you can use some of the pieces to have some semblance of love and relationships. The key thing is to finally find a Christian spouse(if you’re not already married of course), and build a family of your own with love as its foundation. Remember Jesus is love, and Jesus is the foundation of our faith. So Jesus should be the foundation for our families.
-Jim Sager