By Michael Youssef, Ph D.  May 13, 2020

The unity of the family is under attack in a serious way in our society today. Divorce rates for first-time marriages in America are estimated between 40 to 50 percent with variations to this projection based upon personal factors. Families are constantly ripped apart due to the relative ease by which a couple can terminate the covenant they made before God. Children do not know the security of having a healthy, stable upbringing but live in a constant state of flux. This is not how God designed families!

You may have experienced the pain of divorce as a child or adult. And changing the world’s ideas about what makes a good family system might be difficult. However, doing something about your own family and changing it from the inside out is an attainable goal God can help you accomplish.

One of the places to begin is the prioritization of your time. We can say that family is important. We can tell our wives or husbands or children they are the most important people in our lives. Yet, when we act differently, they get another message loud and clear. To make someone a priority, you must make time for that person.

Another way to show your family members they are important to you is by speaking words of affirmation over their lives. When your husband, wife, or children hear your words of approval, they get excited inside. We all know what it is like to hear that we did a good job, but it is even better to hear it from the people who are closest to you.

If you want to avert your own family crisis, begin to place the highest priority upon your relationship with your family. Not only will your family be blessed, but you will enjoy the rich fruits of having deep, meaningful relationships with those you love the most.

Prayer: Lord, help me to be one who strengthens my family and brings everyone together. May my family be ruled by Your peace and grace—a witness of Your love to the world. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1).