Some people believe that the family is in decline. Others say, “Families aren’t in decline, families are just changing.” Whatever your particular view is, the statistics are pretty engaging. According to US Census data, in 1950, 78 percent of all households were married couples. By 2000, that number had changed to only 52 percent. Is the family in decline? Internationally the numbers are similar. In 1985 in Finland, 85 percent of their children lived with married parents. By 1999, it was 75 percent. In Greece in the 90s, 42 percent of their homes had two married parents and at least one child, by 2001 it was 38 percent. Is the family in decline, or is it just changing?

In studying this I read that it isn’t so much that the family is in decline. That’s been a major headlines for years, dating back to the 1880s. But the statistics get us thinking about our own families, our own culture and society. They make us wonder, “What about the next generation? How will they view the family?” The duty really falls to us, doesn’t it? We must instill not only in ourselves, but in the people whose lives we influence, a desire for strong families.

Families are the foundation of society. God weaved that into the fabric of life and his will, his directive, his purpose for the family is that it would be a happy family. Not happy like you and I would probably think. But a happy family is a family built on a marriage that God made, and a family that is blessed by Jesus. This kind of family will always be a benefit to society and more importantly a seedbed for the gospel.

So let Jesus be a part of your family. Let Jesus have a place at your dinner table, a place in your quiet time, a seat where he can sooth the sadness of life and sin. Jesus is our cure and our cause for happy families. He cures the unhappiness of sin by dying to pay for sin. He causes happiness by showing us the forgiveness and eternal life he has earned. And when he becomes the center of my life, he becomes the center of my family, and that family is God's happy family.