The Family — How Firm a Foundation

God allows us to experience opposition in many ways. Though we encounter plenty of adversarial opposition, there are plenty of ways we see complementary opposition in the majestic mastery of the universe our Father governs.

Most buildings have perpendicular sides to their foundation. This is formed by an opposing set of opposing sides, or four sides arranged in two sets of two.

Why all the opposition? Isn't opposition bad?

No, it's not always bad. It's always required for balance. (See Opposition in All Things)

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In order to fully develop, boys and girls must be shown male and female role models.

Women and men don’t keep mutually exclusive sets of attributes based on their gender.

But let's broadly generalize on a point or two and see a clearer vision of the beautiful, divinely eternal pattern we see in families.

Speaking generally, fathers help young ones see the world as it is.

They provide a practical sense of what to expect, and a firm understanding of how one must adjust those expectations, and one’s own feelings, to get along in their surroundings.

They give an example of strength and toughness to forge ahead through challenging paths by subduing their own need for a sense of perfection.

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Mothers help young ones see the world as it should be.

They provide a sense of striving for the ideal, based on expressions of fairness, equality, and accommodation.

They provide a hopeful outlook, born of possibility, and unlimited by circumstance.

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Both provide an example of what to look for in a future mate, and how to treat them.

Sometimes fortunately, sometimes unfortunately, the kind of person one sees coupled to their homologous parent usually shapes the kind of person that child looks to marry, and thereby deems themself worthy of the kind of love demonstrated by and between the parents (and between the parents and the child).

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Of course, the ideal balance outlined above is not a given. Sometimes, parents are missing from the picture. And even having both parents does not guarantee the kind of even split we're outlining here.

Some families get more than "half" of their influence from one parent over the other.

Just because one part of this complete set of ideals is "masculine" and the other is "feminine" doesn't mean the father only and always contributes the "masculine," and the mother is always and only "feminine."

In fact, I'd venture to say that no two marriages are the same; no two childhoods are the same. The dimensions of parenting are simply too numerous to track all the variables.

Further, variables in children create completely different childhood experiences, even among siblings being raised in the same home, at the same time. (Watch the 1992 film, A River Runs Through It, for a beautiful illustration.)

Many families have to make do when circumstances change, or if they were not established according to the ideal pattern in the first place—death, disability, divorce, division, etc. This does matter.

While acknowledging the reality of this diversity, let's not wallow in the criticism of the ideal, a too-often indulgence in our warping world today.

If one's particular situation is different, even if it's far from the ideal, we should still strive for the ideal. We should still understand it to the best of our ability, and work toward accommodating differences and changes so that we maintain as closely to it as we can.

Parents have an obligation to help each other to provide these conditions for children.

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Discussions of family values are often criticized by being overly religious in tone or origin.

Really? Are people honestly ready to discuss the family in terms of biology only?

Let's start with this thought:

Approximately One Hundred Percent of humans are the literal offspring of a male and a female parent.

Does that begin and end the discussion?

How about a little more explicitly?

One Hundred Percent of persons identifying themselves as LGBTQ, etc. etc., have been preceded by an easily distinguishable family tree, comprised of generation upon generation of heterosexual couples—without exception.

Plainer still:

One Hundred Percent of their ancestors were party to a heterosexual relationship.

They owe their own existence to the natural and divinely appointed order of the family, which has given them their very breath.

What does this indicate regarding the propriety of sexual deviance in their generation?

No matter what Gods one worships, there is no variance in many of the plain truths regarding families.

"And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come;

"And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning."

Doc. & Cov. 93: 24-25

We have been offered a clear standard to measure every latest worldly fad and fashion when it comes to the doctrine of the family. Anything more or less than the absolute truths established in both biology and theology comes from the father of lies, the great deceiver.

Sexual perversion of any kind is no idle pastime. It has far-reaching consequences that run deep.

Imagine the societal ills that could be utterly eliminated if people began living the Lord's law of chastity (only having sexual relations with one's legal and lawful spouse).

Imagine the impact on crime, poverty, hopelessness, regret, and insobriety.

Imagine the impact on our individual and collective sense of responsibility, accountability, industry, stability, and security.

Love is not an emotion; it is a committment. Love doesn't encourage hurtful interactions, it curtails them.

The family ought to be the basic unit of our civilization. No other institution can grant the degrees offered through the experiential wisdom gained in family life, purposely pursued.

The family must be at the base. Not corporations, not schools, clubs, or even churches. Not individuals, not careers, not money nor any other material wealth.

The family is historically the only sure foundation upon which any sustainable society might be expected to build.

The downfall of kingdoms and countries can be reliably predicted by the disintegration of their families.

What do failed past civilizations have in common with each other, and with our current culture?

Look to their understanding of family life, expressed by their priorities in parenting.

Let's enthrone the righteous family as the highest priority in our social order, unitedly organized under the fatherhood of God.

Required reading: The Family: A Proclamation to the World

See also:

Family Matters, by the Author

My Work and My Glory, by the Author

Every Dwelling Place, by the Author

House to House, by the Author

Leaders and Followers, by the Author

The Call of Duty, by the Author

Charity Never Faileth, by the Author

Kristen's Sonnet, by the Author

Ultimate Social Network, by the Author

Manly Media, by the Author

They Also of the Tribe of Judah, by the Author