21/07/2024
THE PLACE OF FAMILY IN NATION BUILDING
By Rev. Godwin Okonkwo
The center of any community is the family. Good families produce good citizens for every community. God ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. The basis for the family unit was the married couple (Genesis 2:4-5 :1) . From the union of the husband and wife.
That is male and female, the family expanded to include the children, and also various relatives, such as grandparents and others.
The Bible compares the family to a garden. It’s a place to grow people, a garden to grow people in. Psalm 144:12, May our sons in their youth be like plants that grow up strong”.
CHURCH AS A FAMILY
We can also expand the definition of family to include church, the body of Christ, a group of believers. If all Nigerians who attend church are true Disciples of Christ then Nigeria nation will surely be different today.
The good Lord will help us in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Men and women can live together in peace and harmony when families function according to basic principles that enhance family relationship. In order to maintain peace and harmony in any society, nations must rise up to focus on producing better families. In order to build great families, husbands and wives and fathers and mothers must develop parental skills that lead to the establishment and maintenance of healthy family living. Any nation that seeks to be united on the foundation of moral living must first encourage the development of solid family structure within society.
Nation building should start from the family.
There is a saying that character is what you are when no one is around. Character formation takes place in the family. Every member of the family unit has a distinctive function and responsibility in its growth and development as the society's building block. Life begins at home, wisdom and charity should begin there too. The home is the primary and most vital factor in a child's development into a mature and stable member of society.
Church and school play secondary roles, if only because of the amount of time spent at home and all the personal interaction that takes place there (but today children spend more time with non-family members). Children provide for the continuance of the family line (Deut. 25:5-10: PS 127: 3-5)
They were the instruments by which ancient family traditions were passed on (Exod. 13:8-9; Deut. 4:9; Deut . 6:7).
The family is a relay of values. It's like a relay race. You’re passing the baton on to your children and they will pass the baton on to the next generation and so on. Your family is simply one link in a long chain throughout time, linking the families before you to the families that come after you. The Bible in Isaiah 38:19 says one generation shall tell another"
The question is, what legacy are you passing on to your children?
Our children should be encouraged to develop a passion for success without been materialistic; have a sense of purpose devoid of entitlement mentality and self-centeredness.
Parents must teach their children to respect the right of others, to value equity, fairness and justice.
This will keep them from being selfish and self-centered as adults. If the right values are not developed during childhood, they could be quite difficult to imbibe as an adult. Children generally believe that the world revolves around them and they are not interested in the opinions and preferences of others. If they grow into adulthood that way, they will make bad leaders and terrible spouses.
INTEGRITY AND TRUTHFULNESS
Teach your child to be truthful and straightforward. Integrity as a core value is the foundation for long-term success not just in leadership but in every other endeavour. Integrity is best developed during childhood. It is very difficult to train an adult to become a person of integrity. If the value was not developed during childhood. We should teach our children that honesty is still the best policy even though it may cost them. Without integrity, everything else falls apart.
DILIGENCE
Teach your children to value good, honest, hard work. Teach your children that nothing good comes easy and that there is no profit without labor. Diligence is a virtue that should be learned early in life.
Patience and perseverance during times of adversity and when faced with challenges. we should learn not to give up easily and also teach our children same . Ability to remain hopeful is a virtue that can be learned and acquired early in life.
People that have hope can endure more than people that give up easily. People that have hope can survive setbacks and still be able to bounce back.
It takes the hope of a better future to be able to exhibit patience and perseverance when things are not going well. The best time to develop patience is during childhood.
Children need to be taught early in life to endure pain today for a better tomorrow. Teach your children that the fact that things are very rough today does not mean that it will always be that way.
This was one of the most valuable lessons that Mrs. Cecilia Ezeike taught me while I was growing up as a secondary school boy. When I was very sick that she had to carry me on her back most of the way to and from Agba village for an injection. She kept saying that there were better days ahead. It did not make much sense then, but now I understand perfectly.
In conclusion
A Chinese proverb has this to say:
If there is righteousness in the heart,
There will be beauty in character.
If there is beauty in character,
There will be harmony in the home.
If there is harmony in the home,
There will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation
There will be peace in the world.
May we have a united, peaceful and prosperous nation where accountability, equity and justice shall reign.
God Bless Nigeria .
