But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. Psalms 103:17-18 (KJV)

There can be no doubt that the family, in every age in the history of man, has been and remains the place where we learn to live. It shapes not only the basic functions of an individual, like how to eat, dress, etc., but it also forms more profound beliefs, religious and spiritual. It shapes the ways people live their daily lives, they way they conduct themselves in society, and attitudes they have about tolerance, race and society. Therefore the family exercises a series of functions that we can call preventive that teach how one should act in future situations.

Preventive functions can be group into:

  1. Religious affiliation: Where people develop the most relevant beliefs that govern them and generate attitudes about the religious and spiritual being. They shape whether a person will obey Biblical commands or not, and whether they will seek God as something vital or merely a religion that speaks about God.
  2. Family connections: How do we behave in our own families? Once this is formed, it teaches us how to act as fathers, spouses, mothers, etc.
  3. Attitudes: This area deals with how to live life, whether that is with courage, love and happiness or bitterness and fear.
  4. How to be a man or woman: shaping attitudes towards sexuality.
  5. Personal and Emotional Life: We learn how we should feel. That might be happy or sad, strong and confident or weak before the challenges of daily life. We might feel rejected and disconnected from others or loved and able to return love.
  6. Protective Function: This deals with either avoiding or encouraging addictive behavior. In homes where children feel unprotected, rejected and unloved, where there are conflicts, where there is a lack of sensitivity to their needs and inadequate communication, there is a more of a tendency to learn addictive behavior.

For this reason we must understand that the family has not only an educational function, but also a preventive one. The question is, is your family exercising this preventive function? To achieve this, it is important that you teach and live the Word. The passage from Psalms 103 says that God has mercy on those who keep his word.

May God help you in all you have learned today.

Dr. Miguel and Irene Garita

Family Care Ministry, Church of the Nazarene, Mesoamerica Region