I used to think that a family was husband, wife, and kids, but a family really begins when two people who love each other pledge to spend their lives together. Let’s explore Bible verses about family importance by first talking about the most treasured relationships in our lives.
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept, and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
Marriage is the most sacred of earthly relationships and while they will never replace your relationship with God, you will find that a happy marriage leads to happy children. My husband likes to tease me and say “if mama ain’t happy, no one is” and he’s actually correct.
You set the stage and your marriage will set the stage for your children’s concept of family.
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What is the Importance of Family in the Bible
While the Bible doesn’t contain a lot of verses specifically about family, it does provide an endless supply of stories beginning with Adam and Eve and ending with the family of Christ.
What do these stories teach us?
- Cain and Able: Jealousy destroys families
- Abraham: Sometimes it is necessary to leave your family to follow God’s calling
- Jacob and Leah: God hears our hearts’ cry. God saw that Jacob loved Rachel and not Leah, therefore He had compassion on Leah by opening her womb and she bore 6 of the 12 tribes of Israel (and a daughter).
- Jacob and Esau: Forgiveness unites
- Joseph and his brothers: Jealousy destroys families
- Naomi and Ruth: Loyalty is invaluable and faithfulness makes a family strong
- Esther: Family first which she embraced, putting herself aside to save her people
- The parable of the prodigal son: Forgiveness unites
- Mary and Martha: Put God first, family second.
What does the Bible say about family? What is God’s view on family?
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate. (Psalm 127:3-5 NIV)
Bible Verses About the Importance of Family
Bible verses about the importance of family can be a touchy subject for some. If you grew up in a troubled family or if you were mistreated as a child, the word family might have a negative connotation. Divorce brings a lot of pain to the family and children of divorce often need to seek guidance from scripture to not repeat that pain in their own lives.
It all starts with our relationship with God, then our relationship with our spouse, and finally a secure home built on Christ for our children.
Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, your children like olive plants all around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed Who fears the Lord. (Psalm 128:1-4)
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2:21-24)
Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.” (Genesis 1:28)
Bible Verses on Family First
We can often get caught up in responsibilities as well as our own dreams and ambitions. It is easy to lend our time and energy to our friends, the church, our ministries, and work, but we must be cautious that our families come first.
Your family unit is your safe space. Your relationship with your spouse is treasured, your children learn from your actions whether they be positive or negative. Paul instructs us to put family first.
But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (1 Timothy 5:8)
Solomon puts some high expectations on wives and I think we sometimes forget the importance of our position.
An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones. (Proverbs 12:4)
You, sweet woman, are the crown of your husband. You can make him great or tear him down. Treasure that basis of the family unit.
Bible Verses About Family Strength
For Bible verses about family strength, the first example that comes to mind is the popular challenge of Joshua.
Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)
Our strength comes from God, the great I Am. If your strength is not coming from Him your family unit will be weakened.
God instructs us not only to be fruitful and multiply, but to diligently teach our children His truth and His commandments.
And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)
Bible Verses About Family Conflict
Let’s face it, a family is a group of people fighting their sinful natures all living and working together. There is going to be trouble from time to time. These are opportunities to make your relationships stronger, to see the wrong in your own hearts, and to teach your children how to handle conflict.
In the examples of families given earlier, you can see the conflict! Cain and Able, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers, the list goes on and on.
If you didn’t have the greatest family growing up, I want to remind you of this verse before launching into Bible verses about family conflict.
When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me. (Psalm 27:10)
God is with you all the way, my friends!
The Bible is full of verses about how we are supposed to treat one another and they all apply to families.
Some verses speak specifically to family relationships.
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. (Exodus 20:12)
Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. (Colossians 3:19-20)
And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:1-4)
Other verses speak to relationships in general which can all be applied to families as well.
Forgive one another: Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:21-22)
Love one another: This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
Swallow your pride: Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. (Romans 12:16)
Be patient with each other: Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up. (1 Corinthians 13:4)
Love God first and other relationships will fall into place: Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”
Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (Mark 12:28-34)
Let’s end these Bible verses about family importance with a few verses about the family of Christ and the unity he wishes for us to have. We are brothers and sisters in the Lord and it is a blessing to walk beside you on this journey we call life.
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (Colossians 3:12-17)
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