God’s Plan for Family Life
God’s plan for your family is holiness. Each of us, married or single, is part of a family. We all have a part to play to redeem the world. The writings of Pope St. John Paul II provide a beautiful description of what it looks like to be a family after God’s own heart.
God’s plan for family life consists of setting your priorities with God at the center, cultivating a healthy family prayer life, engaging in family recreation, loving unconditionally, building community with other families, and evangelization.
Priorities
God’s plan for family life has a very distinct order of priorities. We are to place God first, spouse second, children third, and everyone else after that.
“But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.”
Matt. 6:33
Our lives should reflect these priorities. For example, we plan our week to ensure that we nurture our relationship with God by placing Him on our calendar: Sunday Mass, daily prayer, monthly confession, and study of Scripture should be prioritized over work and play.
In a family that isn’t committed to this order of priorities, conflicts can arise when work, out of town guests, or a child’s sporting event cause us to consider skipping Sunday Mass. If we choose to value the opinion of our parents over that of our spouse, choose to override our spouse’s desire and give in to our children’s nagging, or believe that our relationship with our children is more important than our relationship with our spouse, each of these errors will lead to disorder and disharmony in our families.
God’s priorities may not always make sense, but when kept consistently, they will bring us joy and peace and equip us to weather the storms of life. God’s plan is for harmony within the family. This doesn’t mean the absence of difficulty, but the promise that God will see us through those tough times and that we will come out stronger afterwards.
Thus they will fulfill their task with human and Christian responsibility, and, with docile reverence toward God, will make decisions by common counsel and effort.
– Guadium Et Spes #50
Talks
Resources
- Get to know you exercise (normally done in small groups) – The Domestic Church
- Homework – Family Crest Activity – Instructions here – We passed out cardboard crests, but you can do the project using a poster board available at the grocery or drug store.
- Daily Scripture and Quotes on Family Life – You may wish to include these short readings in your daily prayers. Week 1 and Week 2