I am more and more convinced that the family today is in crisis. Homes across America are hurting. Marriages are on the edge of divorce, husbands and wives are doing their own thing and aren’t “one” in their relationship. The kids are stuck in front of computers using Myspace, Xanga, and playing games and not spending time with their family. Debt is strangling families and they keep ringing it up at a dangerous pace. Teenage drinking is rampant. Is it no wonder that homes across the land are Desperate for help.

Life is full of storms. It’s like being in a hurricane sometimes. The things that come in to it just batter us, bruise us and beat us up, you get dumped on and things don’t go the way you planned. Life is very tough and we all need a place of safety, security, peace, protection. God has planned that our homes be that place. Unfortunately, the home has become a battlefield and the family is in crisis. Even godly people have family problems, but there is hope even in the worst situation.

According to a national survey on marriage taken by the National Fatherhood Initiative, the “family” is in crisis. The survey indicates that 69% of people married are very happy in their marriage, yet the divorce rate in America is just below 50%. Interpretation – someone is lying! It makes you wonder what in the heck are people thinking and where has this mndset come from. According to George Barna, 51% of the unchurched assert that when Jesus Christ lived on earth, He committed sins. (2004) With a statistic like that, it is easy to see where the mindset of America is.

Barna also shares that one-quarter (25%) of born again Christians have co-habited. Among self-identified Christians who do not hold beliefs that classify them as “born agains,” 37% have co-habited. Forty-two percent of adults who associate with a faith other than Christianity have co-habited, and 51% of atheists have co-habited. Wow – approved adultery!

Organizations abound that are trying to rework the definition of a family and it seems that anything goes to define a family. The family is one of the units of our society that groups like the ACLU think should be fluid as our society changes. To me a tree is a tree and has been a tree as long as a tree has been around. Why shouldn’t the same principle apply to a man, a woman, or the family. The core family is a man (husband/father), a woman (wife/mother) and most probably children. Thus the family!

The number one thing you can do to strengthen your family is not : reading a self help book, going to a family councilor, going to a seminar, etc…. The number one thing you can do is to build a love relationship with God. You may ask “How do I do that ?”

The same way that you build any relationship – by spending time together.

Make a choice to love unconditionally.

Remember the Lord’s love for you and how He wants you to share it.