The Value of the Family Unit

Statistically, strong family units are consistently linked to better health and mental well-being. It is commonly accepted that children in secure families show higher resilience, adults report lower rates of depression and anxiety, and family support reduces the impact of poverty and stress. Globally, negative family relationships are correlated with higher risks of depression (11%) and anxiety (7%). In contrast, positive family functioning improves outcomes across generations. This information comes from a variety of sources that can be readily accessed online.¹

It should not be surprising to anyone who reads the Bible carefully that the evidence points to the fact that living within a secure family unit is advantageous for health and mental well-being.

We have already seen in this series that God created ‘male and female’ as unique individuals with common characteristics but at the same time having very distinctive qualities. We will see in a later article that the marriage of a man and a woman is part of God’s design for the well-being, stability, love and support of human beings. Added to this, we discover that there is an additional aspect of relationships and community that is vitally important for our well-being — the family. The family is not just something that conveniently evolved. It was specifically designed by God. After the flood judgement of the world, Genesis chapter 10 records the list of descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth — the three sons of Noah. Each part of the family tree was grouped in four ways — by land, language, families and nations. So very early on in Bible history the concept of the family unit is clearly seen.

Being part of a family should be wonderful — but realistically, I know every family has its ‘ups and downs’. It is a place where we belong (I know that there are always exceptions); it is a place where we feel secure, we are loved; it is OK to be you and so on. The family unit was intended for the health and well-being of society, and the evidence is that it is the best way for good community and social cohesion. We are worse off as individuals, and as a society, when the health of the family unit is ignored.

In Genesis chapter 12 verse 3, God gives Abram the promise of future blessing. One of the blessings is that ‘in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed’ NKJV. The blessing of faith in God through the promised Messiah is ultimately seen in the blessing of families. It is wonderful how often God saves whole families — it is not guaranteed, but it is often the case (see Acts 16. 15, 32, 33; 1 Cor. 16. 15).

David, the shepherd boy who became king, wrote about the family in several Psalms. He was from a big family that would have had the normal stresses and strains of family life. Still, he had discovered the importance that God had placed on the family. He writes that God is ‘A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows . . . in His holy habitation. God sets the solitary in families’, Ps. 68. 5, 6 NKJV. I love the fact that God is a Father to those who have no father and intends that a lonely (solitary) individual is included in family life.

One last reference and then I will leave you to ponder the significance and value of a family. In Psalm 107, an unknown writer states, ‘Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, and makes their families like a flock’, v. 41 NKJV. Our God frees and liberates people. He rescues people experiencing poverty from trouble and makes their families like flocks of sheep. Sometimes God does this in this world and on other occasions in the next, but one thing you can be sure of is this — the picture is that God protects, cares for and feeds those who are needy and trust Him. The incidental but significant lesson we learn from this is — families should be places where we are protected, cared for and provided for. If this is the case in your life, you should be thankful.

It is what God intended. If this is not true for you, please remember God is your Father, you are part of the family of God (if you are saved) and you have brothers and sisters who can do for you what your natural siblings have never done.