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Family, family, family. What’s happening with our family today?

The Pew Research Center published an article back in 2015 that speaks to what part of our concern is today. It’s been researched that “two parent households are on the decline in the United States as divorce, remarriage, 2^nd divorce and cohabitation are on the rise. In the early 1960s babies typically arrived within a marriage, today four-in-ten births occur to women who are single or living with a non-marital partner.”

I believe, if we are being truthful, the fabric of the family is being distorted or deteriorated.

We’ve coined the phrase “babies having babies.” Whether this is true or not the art of parenting is being challenged.

The first position of family authority is the father. The second is the mother. Whether the father and mother are married or not, God still instructs us to honor these positions of authority. We have to teach our children to honor their parents, as they learn this, they will learn to honor those who are in authority positions.

If we continue in the state we are in, our children will grow up dishonoring authority, thus when they come into a position of authority, they themselves will not know how to honor the position they hold.

It is within the home we learn to honor authority. The home structure is one that is built on authority.

At the threat of dating myself, there were sitcoms that established the home hierarchy with the presence of authority figures. There was the Waltons, Little House on the Prairie, Courtship of Eddie’s father, Sanford and Son, Green Acres, Jeffersons and All in the Family just to name a few. What we see now is the family authority being challenged by everyone in the house. The danger is that this mindset bleeds over into our community.

Romans 13:1-2 tells us: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.”

God set authority in the family, it’s up to us to educate and enforce the honoring of authority. Authority is the solid foundation for a solid family.

 

Rev. Demetrius Moffett is Senior Pastor of Orange Church of God-Embassy of Grace, 1911 North 16th Street in Orange.