What is Family?

I'm reading a book that got me thinking about family. There was a discussion in the book about Celebrating Family, but what is family?

I started by taking the advice of a friend and googling the biblical definition family and after wading through the junk I found a page that really got me thinging even more. It brought out the fact that in the Bible, family changed many time from old to new testament.

Family has been a concept that has changed in my mind through the years as well. When I was younger I was always around my family. I was lucky to have a very close knit family that spent a lot of time together. Grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings.

As I've grown I remain lucky to still be in touch with my family, but I've also formed another type of family in the very close friendships that I have built. This has become another type of family to me as well. They are my everyday family that I rely on when times get rough, and rejoice with when times are good!

Who is the person or people who define family? Is the single father and his son? How about just the single person? Is the lesbian couple and children considered a family? How about a group of people not related by blood? What makes a family?

The Bible goes on the describe the church as a family. I remember in my parents church the adults used to call everyone brother or sister. We talk about God as the Father. Who is our mother? Is God a single Father as well?

Family seems to me to be an ever changing definition. One that has changed many times since the Garden of Eden. One that will continue to change, or should I say evolve through time.

Ruth 1:15-17 The Message

15 Naomi said, "Look, your sister-in-law is going back home to live with her own people and gods; go with her."
16-17 But Ruth said, "Don't force me to leave you; don't make me go home. Where you go, I go; and where you live, I'll live. Your people are my people, your God is my god; where you die, I'll die, and that's where I'll be buried, so help me God—not even death itself is going to come between us!"

Imagine Ruth sticking with her mother-in-law even after her husband dies. God gave Naomi the family that she needed to continue to survive. Would God do any less for us?

I praise God for my Family and my "Family".


Lord,

Thank you, thank you, thank you! You know my needs way before I've even begun to think about them. You support me in ways I can not even imagine. I praise you for your constant love!