By Not Known
On 30 July, the first-ever official Singapore family pledge was unveiled. It was to encourage individuals to reaffirm their commitment to their loved ones. It was about the family being the foundation of society. As such, everyone has a part to play in nurturing family ties.
This is an important milestone for a maturing society, a society that has been learning more and more through times of crises. For in such times, we learn to grow and to protect, even though many may not think about family support until they need it. Yet, support is also often not available when these people need it most. We need such a foundation.
Likewise, many don’t think about their family values until a crisis arises that forces them to make decisions that may go against their beliefs. While they may have never identified their values, all of sudden they are faced with the realisation that something doesn’t quite fit into what they believe in. This is when people realise how important family values are to the structure and operation of their family system. The issue is how may we help to cultivate good family values?
God formed us in family units since he brought Eve to Adam and created the first family unit. He also gave them values when he instructed them to thrive in the Garden of Eden (Gen 1─2). Throughout history, God instructed, warned, encouraged and built the family. Many families failed and made mistakes but families are essential.
With harsh living conditions in a fallen world and destructive forces bent on breaking up families, the very essence that holds families together is family values. Values help to put a foundation in place, influence family decisions, provide guidance in raising children, protect from external influence, give meaning to family relationships and to help them to remain strong in the face of opposition.
The church is also a family unit. We need to zealously identify and maintain good family values which encourage strong family units within the church family. Our values should be founded on God’s Word and guided by His Spirit. If we are not deeply dwelling in His Word daily and always ready to heed the Spirit’s prompting in our lives, we are not going to have strong positive families.
Here are some values we should be building: a sense of belonging, flexibility, respect, honesty, and forgiveness. Others would add generosity, curiosity, communication, responsibility, and traditions. Whatever values we may have picked up to nurture in our homes, we need to build on them and solidify them to keep our families strong and godly. Whether we need a pledge to keep us committed to our families or not, we owe it to our families and our children. In doing so, we are committed to obeying God in building families after God’s heart. Let us work at this together.
Peter Poon