The War For The Family

The Ten Commandments were given for the good of the people individually, as well as society as a whole, but there is only one commandment that gives the reason why it’s given; the fifth commandment… “Honor your father and mother that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12). 

A culture study was done through Prager University that found that cultures throughout the world that dishonor and disrespect their parents, only last about 50 years before they crumble as a culture. A similar study was done on cultures that kill their own babies, and they also didn’t last more than two generations before they deteriorated into oblivion. God’s principles bring life. 

The pattern is biblical - a godly culture will raise god-fearing children that will show honor and respect to their parents and to their fellow man. Perhaps that is why this commandment precedes the commands to not kill, not commit adultery, to not steal, or lie. If the tower of the fifth commandment falls, all these other things will flow in, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing in our culture today. 

The truth is, there’s not just war in other parts of the world, there’s a war right under our noses, in our own homes, for the family. Satan has the family in his crosshairs, and every aspect of society is working to devalue the role of parents, encouraging students to make decisions behind their parents’ backs. Movies continue to portray children being disrespectful and disobedient to their parents and praised for “finding their own voice.” Even the popular Black Lives Matter group has the “deconstruction of the nuclear family” as one of their stated goals. 

Dear ones, we can fight the good fight of faith by building strong family units. If our children are out on their own, we can still strive to build strong Christian values into the extended family units as much as we can. But whatever we do, we must never stop fighting for this God-made, precious, safe-haven, the family unit. And friends, we have to pray for protection over our families because they are under full assault. This is a fight worth fighting!

(Devotional by Cheryl Hall-Laos)