Family Values (1)
What is a Family?
The definition of a family is necessary here to understand what we know as family values. Family in the traditional setting and the Bible was based on the father, mother, and the children. The tradition and Bible also recognize siblings and other close relatives in the extended family manner. In the Bible, family ties were so pronounced that God warned Israelites not to pollute themselves with an unlawful sexual relationship with family members (Leviticus 18:6-20).
The society also celebrates family days that were set apart to commemorate the uniqueness of family members, such as; Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and the Children’s day. I come from the Yoruba nation, which believed and practiced polygamy. Polygamy included the father, several wives (mothers), and children of these wives and concubines. The polygamy structure is also revealed in the Old Testament in the lives of Abraham, Jacob, King David, and Solomon, to mention a few.
The family I come from is strictly monogamous. My father married my mother alone as his wife. My mother was blessed with ten children, but only six survived. I am the oldest of the surviving six children. Our family enjoys unusual closeness and fellowship uncommon in other families. I believe this was made possible because of the Christian style of governance in the family and the total dedication of my parents to Jesus Christ.
Today, we have a diversity of family structures. At the societal level in general, the new family structures are very different from the traditional married families to single-parent families, to families built around partnerships with or without marriage which include members who may be stepparents, grandparents, gay or lesbian parents, or partners.
Evolving Parental Roles
The father was the indisputable head of the family, and the mother was a homemaker in the past. Women had a rigid traditional role on the home front, to keep the home, undertake domestic chores, take care of the husband by cooking delicious meals and train the children. The change in this traditional role impacts the lives of men and children. Society’s recognition of the diversity of family types must be seen in the evolving and changing roles engaged in by women and men and in society’s understanding of same-sex relationships. Feminist movements have dramatically changed the way women plan their lives in terms of how they will invest their time, whether it be invested in career, family, or other activities. Nowadays, there is a general call for men to share in the domestic responsibilities to allow women desirous of achieving their careers and family goals and avoid stress overload.
Debasement Of Family Values
It is a well-known fact that family values have been debased. Parents no longer play their traditional roles, and children are disobedient and act flagrantly against social norms and duties. The attributes of old family values include honesty, respect, purity, caring, and commitment, and these have been thrown into the garbage.
Today families have been shattered by divorce, and truth has been thrown out of homes. Parents lack integrity, and children are more criminally prone than being obedient. There is no respect for traditional family roles anymore. Each family member is more interested in what is in there for them. Children are at home alone while parents are at work, sex outside of marriage is accepted, truth is relative, and the focus is more on self-interest than family interest.
There is no longer respect for lives, especially as television, computer, social media, and the Internet expose the future generation to commonplace crimes and more crimes. Children are exposed to video and computer games that glorify killings, rituals, and nudity. Is it any wonder there is no respect for life anymore?
Who is to Blame?
Ask any sinner who is to blame? The answer is not far-fetched. It is, of course, Satan, the Devil. Of course, ultimately, Satan is to blame. Satan will do all in his powerless power to bring down humankind. Satan aims to bring everything possible to bear on the inhabitants of the earth that will cause them to turn far away from God. Besides, Satan enjoys hurting, maiming, and killing humans in the most degrading way, thereby bringing sorrow to the tender heart of the great God of love and compassion.
Let us face facts and put the blame where it should be. Our families themselves must share responsibility for the woeful state of our society today. Fathers and mothers in their homes have allowed the society around them to dictate our values and standards. Parents have left undone the things required of them. Children depend on their parents to guide them in the right direction, but most parents have failed in this duty.
The fact is that homes have become houses, and they are run on shifts. Most homes are run on three shifts with the father on the night shift, the mother on the day shift, and the children shift for themselves. It is nothing but chasing the wind. The wind of life propelled by Satan sends families in all directions, negatively abandoning the right direction that leads to God. Jesus is the only way, the truth, and life (John 14:6). Parents have permitted our violence-addicted culture to re-program their children through films/movies, music, cartoons, and video games we pay for their enjoyment.
