“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness … So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:26-27, NKJV).
A godly family is the clearest representation of the image and likeness of God on earth. In creating the family, God purposed to have a basic relational unit of humans, a male and a female, that will reflect His image and likeness of self-giving love. As love is the undergirding reason behind every act of God, so should it be the driver of relationships within a family. It is the glue that binds husband and wife alongside their children “in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:14, NLT). Self-giving love by its nature is intensely sacrificial, unremittingly forgiving, and ultimately transforming. According to J. Oswald Sanders, “Love is the self-imparting quality in the nature of God that moves Him to seek the highest good of His creatures, in whom He seeks to awake responsive love.” Self-giving love is the eternal character of God by which He wants His disciples to be identified at all times. Our Lord said to His disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13: 34-35). The observance of the new commandment is demanded in nowhere as in the family. The family is the bastion of godly relationships, where the members are committed to seeking and promoting the highest good of the others. The unifying principle for godly relationships is self-giving love. God desires that every family on earth derives its character and identity from Him (Ephesians 3:15). Self-giving love is therefore the font and linchpin of family life. A family is safe and united to the extent this sublime character of God has become internalized and expressed within its members..
A godly family reflects God’s self-giving love, unity, and purpose. Marriage and parenthood showcase God’s character, with love as the foundation, transforming lives and populating the world with godly individuals.
There are two elements that constitute the family as envisioned by God, namely, marriage and parenthood. First marriage: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Marriage is a binding union of a man and a woman that is based on self-giving love. The bond of marriage cannot be severed except by the death of a partner. Some Pharisees wanting to justify their wicked practice of kicking out their wives at the flimsiest excuse sought our Lord’s opinion. “And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:4-6). Through marriage, husband and wife become one flesh. As a matter of fact the prophet Malachi suggests that they are also one spirit –“God made husbands and wives to become one body and one spirit for His purpose…” (Malachi 2:15). This oneness can only be achieved with the binding influence of self-giving love. Without self-giving love, marriage as envisioned by God will be humanly impossible. Hence Paul instructs, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her” (Ephesians 5:25). This love is mutual and reciprocal. Therefore, Paul further instructs, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:22). Marriage only thrives in the atmosphere saturated with love that is both sacrificial and transforming.
The second element of the family is parenthood. Husbands and wives are joined together in marriage to rear godly children. The Bible therefore declares, “You were united to your wife by the Lord. In God’s wise plan, when you married, the two of you became one person in his sight. And what does he want? Godly children from your union. Therefore, guard your passions! Keep faith with the wife of your youth” (Malachi 2:15, TLB). The family is therefore God’s love nest for nurturing godly children. Children imbibe the spirit of self-giving love from their parents. Raising godly children is the ultimate vocation for parents. Godly children are those who internalize and reflect the character of God’s self-giving love. Only through such can God be revealed and our world be saved and transformed. God’s undying desire is to populate the world with human beings who look like Him and act like Him. For this purpose he created the family. Godly husbands and wives are imperative for raising godly sons and daughters who will in turn form godly families that will create a godly world. It is my prayer that your family will be one of those that would meet the purpose of God in Jesus name.
Happy Family Day.
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