Families: Where Would We Be Without Them?

Here in the United States we set aside two months to reflect on family relationships, specifically with our mothers (May) and with our fathers (June). We offer here a sampling of thoughts about the importance of families.—Editors.

God sets the lonely in families (Ps. 68:6).
David,
king of Israel.

One of the greatest lessons of my own life was learning to turn the inner rampage of hatred and anger toward my own father for his reprehensible behavior and abandonment of his family into an inner reaction more closely aligned with God and God-realized love.
Wayne Dyer,
American author and counselor.

Neither man nor woman is perfect or complete without the other. Thus, no marriage or family . . . is likely to reach its full potential until husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, men and women work together in unity of purpose, respecting and relying on each other’s strengths.
Sheri L. Dew,
American author and publisher.

Honor your father and mother so that you’ll live a long time in the land that God, your God, is giving you.
GOD, Exodus 20:12,
the Message*

Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.
Robert Frost,
American poet.

In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.
Alex Haley,
American author.

The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works, is the family.
Lee Iacocca,
American industrialist.

Then [Joseph] sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving he said to them, ‘Don’t quarrel on the way!’” (Gen. 45:24)
MOSES,
HISTORIAN.

If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother, and the teacher.
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam,
Indian scientist and politician.

When you get married your loyalty, first and foremost is to your spouse, and to the family that you create together.
Phil McGraw,
television personality.

I would prefer to have no money but to have a nice family and good friends around.
Li NA,
professional tennis player.

I woke up one morning thinking about wolves and realized that wolf packs function as families. Everyone has a role, and if you act within the parameters of your role, the whole pack succeeds, and if that falls apart, so does the pack.
Jodi Picoult,
American author.

No other factor affects a child’s relationship to God as do parents.
Richard rice,
theologian.

I try to live my life like my father lives his. He always takes care of everyone else first. He won’t even start eating until he’s sure everyone else in the family has started eating. Another thing: My dad never judges me by whether I win or lose.
Ben Roethlisberger,
professional football player.

You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.
Desmond Tutu, South African cleric and theologian.

The home should be to the children the most attractive place in the world, and the mother’s presence should be its greatest charm.
Ellen G. White, seventh-day adventist pioneer and author.

God would have our families symbols of the family in heaven. Let parents and children bear this in mind every day, relating themselves to one another as members of the family of God. Then their lives will be of such a character as to give to the world an object lesson of what families who love God and keep His commandments may be. Christ will be glorified; His peace and grace and love will pervade the family circle like a precious perfume.
Ellen G. White

* Texts credited to Message are from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.