These are some of the thoughts of my mind on the purpose and power of the family; it’s been a while now since it’s come to my mind to write something like this, though in the scheme of things I might not be the right man to speak on issues like this, or the qualification in terms of experience is not on my side but by privilege I have rubbed minds with the all wise one on issues like this one to understand his original purpose for establishing the world acclaimed smallest institution – the family.
LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDCE) defines the family as “a closely related group – a group of people who are related to each other, especially a mother, a father and their children.” In elementary school, we were taught that “the family is the smallest unit in the society, consisting of father, mother and children related by blood” – what an innocent definition, not introducing little ones to the idea of divorce and remarriage, concepts that disproves the latter part of the definition.
Institution as defined in the LDCE is “an important system of organization that has existed for a long time.” This is true of the family; it is one of the world’s longest standing institutions in the world. Institutions provide an organized system of doing things in the society. My assumptions are if the family got the purpose of its establishment, other institutions in the society like the Presidency, Judiciary, State Executives, Local Councils, Legislatures at all levels, Social and Corporate services with get their bearings on doing what they do to benefit the people they serve and not the few members of these institutions and many more.
The foundation on which a family is built is marriage, the Holy Scriptures say, “If the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” and often times it’s been said that when the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable. Hence, if the foundation on which the family is built is faulty, the ultimate result is frustration and lack of joy and fulfillment. This is why many times individuals can’t live up to expectation and fail in their quest for greatness because of lack of proper training and sometime abuse they suffer on the family platform.
In the series on the purpose and power of the family, I will discuss the foundation, the building and the commissioning of the family as it relates to nation building. The excellence of any nation lies in the content of the character of its people. The character which is largely a function of the upbringing and training of the people; as a Nigerian, the kind of character that makes for nation building is not common. This is not unconnected to the misunderstanding of the purpose and power of the family.
Since the beginning of a family is coming together of a man and a woman, to build a successful family the man and the woman must connect in so many ways, not minding personal ideologies that they have kept all their lives based on their backgrounds.
The concept of this coming together of the man and the woman to start the family has been a great mystery to me since I gained the consciousness of such union; I’ll share some of the thought that ran through my mind over the years.
In most of the situations I can remember, many marriages started with the man considering himself wealthy enough to still remain single or too old to remain single, so he has to get married, then he works towards getting married; other times the lady considers herself too old hence works so hard to get herself fixed up, even if it has to be in a polygamous setting. These situations led me to belief that to a good number of people, marriage is a necessity or a way to procreate, without the thought of the original purpose of the union.
The original intent of the family summed up in two words would be dominion and fruitfulness, the family was to provide leadership at various levels, starting from the home the father is to provide exemplary leadership that guides his family in the right path for growth and development. In the event of expansion, the role of corporate leadership would eventually fall on the members of various families and they will be responsible for providing guidance and leadership for the general public. The members of these families that should take up the offices of public leadership would be expected to be worthy members of their society, people considered to be worthy leaders of their homes.
As I studied history to understand the patterns obtainable in the times of our forefathers I understood the foregoing was one of the factors for the growth and the development of small empires, empires which later developed into large kingdoms and a committee of provinces under the leadership of a central government. Hence, I learnt that all through history, the family has been a very important unit of the society.
Though marriage then would have not been considered as purposefully as it is meant to be considered, but the study of history tells that the wives of many great leaders were very involved in the success stories of these leaders. Hence, it won’t be wrong to say the person we get married to have a lot to do with how far we get in life, as I have heard a number of times behind a successful man, there is always a woman.
To this end I want to make a submission, for the original intent of the family to be realized, the man and the woman who come together to start a family must understand the original intent for the family. This is now my question what is the path to getting this understanding? Another question is what would be the danger of going into a union without this understanding?
In the next part of this series, I will be sharing thoughts on the foundation of this great institution – the family and the dangers of a faulty foundation. Till then, keep making the difference in the ways you can, because the little difference you make today will go a long way to keep the fire of change burning in the hearts of people around. Let your dream for change keep burning, because dreams never die, the live on as long as there is hope.
The Purpose and Power of the Family – Part 1
Posted by davidluiz in Family, Headline, Relationships and Family
LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDCE) defines the family as “a closely related group – a group of people who are related to each other, especially a mother, a father and their children.” In elementary school, we were taught that “the family is the smallest unit in the society, consisting of father, mother and children related by blood” – what an innocent definition, not introducing little ones to the idea of divorce and remarriage, concepts that disproves the latter part of the definition.
Institution as defined in the LDCE is “an important system of organization that has existed for a long time.” This is true of the family; it is one of the world’s longest standing institutions in the world. Institutions provide an organized system of doing things in the society. My assumptions are if the family got the purpose of its establishment, other institutions in the society like the Presidency, Judiciary, State Executives, Local Councils, Legislatures at all levels, Social and Corporate services with get their bearings on doing what they do to benefit the people they serve and not the few members of these institutions and many more.
The foundation on which a family is built is marriage, the Holy Scriptures say, “If the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” and often times it’s been said that when the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable. Hence, if the foundation on which the family is built is faulty, the ultimate result is frustration and lack of joy and fulfillment. This is why many times individuals can’t live up to expectation and fail in their quest for greatness because of lack of proper training and sometime abuse they suffer on the family platform.
In the series on the purpose and power of the family, I will discuss the foundation, the building and the commissioning of the family as it relates to nation building. The excellence of any nation lies in the content of the character of its people. The character which is largely a function of the upbringing and training of the people; as a Nigerian, the kind of character that makes for nation building is not common. This is not unconnected to the misunderstanding of the purpose and power of the family.
Since the beginning of a family is coming together of a man and a woman, to build a successful family the man and the woman must connect in so many ways, not minding personal ideologies that they have kept all their lives based on their backgrounds.
The concept of this coming together of the man and the woman to start the family has been a great mystery to me since I gained the consciousness of such union; I’ll share some of the thought that ran through my mind over the years.
In most of the situations I can remember, many marriages started with the man considering himself wealthy enough to still remain single or too old to remain single, so he has to get married, then he works towards getting married; other times the lady considers herself too old hence works so hard to get herself fixed up, even if it has to be in a polygamous setting. These situations led me to belief that to a good number of people, marriage is a necessity or a way to procreate, without the thought of the original purpose of the union.
The original intent of the family summed up in two words would be dominion and fruitfulness, the family was to provide leadership at various levels, starting from the home the father is to provide exemplary leadership that guides his family in the right path for growth and development. In the event of expansion, the role of corporate leadership would eventually fall on the members of various families and they will be responsible for providing guidance and leadership for the general public. The members of these families that should take up the offices of public leadership would be expected to be worthy members of their society, people considered to be worthy leaders of their homes.
As I studied history to understand the patterns obtainable in the times of our forefathers I understood the foregoing was one of the factors for the growth and the development of small empires, empires which later developed into large kingdoms and a committee of provinces under the leadership of a central government. Hence, I learnt that all through history, the family has been a very important unit of the society.
Though marriage then would have not been considered as purposefully as it is meant to be considered, but the study of history tells that the wives of many great leaders were very involved in the success stories of these leaders. Hence, it won’t be wrong to say the person we get married to have a lot to do with how far we get in life, as I have heard a number of times behind a successful man, there is always a woman.
To this end I want to make a submission, for the original intent of the family to be realized, the man and the woman who come together to start a family must understand the original intent for the family. This is now my question what is the path to getting this understanding? Another question is what would be the danger of going into a union without this understanding?
In the next part of this series, I will be sharing thoughts on the foundation of this great institution – the family and the dangers of a faulty foundation. Till then, keep making the difference in the ways you can, because the little difference you make today will go a long way to keep the fire of change burning in the hearts of people around. Let your dream for change keep burning, because dreams never die, the live on as long as there is hope.