For The Love Of Family

3 minute read

                          How do we become a strong family?

What does it mean to be a strong family?

  Oxford Languages Dictionary defines strong in this sense as :

“able to withstand force, pressure, or wear”.

We would probably all agree that families are not immune to forces against them, or pressure that threatens to break them down or the wear that results in our families, leaving us at times feeling jaded, drained or perhaps hopeless.

  A strong family in this context would be one that is able to withstand these things.

           A family begins with parents. Herein lies a key to strength.

Parents who have brought a mature self, that is a loving and self controlled character to their relationship have the best possible opportunity to create a loving and self controlled family unit that will have within it, the ability to withstand the forces, the pressure and the wear that inevitably comes to every family.

  Now before you deeply sigh and take your bat and ball and go home…

Let me encourage you that all is not lost if you did not begin your family life in such a perfect way. I know I didn’t and I am able to gratefully say that we have been able to navigate the forces, pressure and wear of family life some 43 years later.

One of the best gifts we can give to our children is to model this self controlled and loving character that we want to be in them also.

Parents who commit to personal growth to strengthen their own character will be rewarded with a family life that moves forward rather than backwards.

This forward momentum brings hope and a sense of being able to be in control of my contribution to the family rather than feeling the frustration and hopelessness that comes with trying to control others.

  Strength of character creates a strong future .