The Bible does not lay out a step-by-step order for family
relationship priorities. However, we can still look to the Scriptures
and find general principles for prioritizing our family relationships.
God obviously comes first: Deuteronomy 6:5, "Love the LORD your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
strength." All of one's heart, soul, and strength is to be committed
to loving God, making Him the first priority.
If you are married, your spouse comes next. A married man is to love
his wife as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25). Christ's first
priority—after obeying and glorifying the Father—was the church. Here
is an example a husband should follow: God first, then his wife. In
the same way, wives are to submit to their husbands "as to the Lord"
(Ephesians 5:22). The principle is that a woman's husband is second
only to God in her priorities.
If husbands and wives are second only to God in our priorities, and
since a husband and wife are one flesh (Ephesians 5:31), it stands to
reason that the result of the marriage relationship—children—should be
the next priority. Parents are to raise godly children who will be the
next generation of those who love the Lord with all their hearts
(Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 6:4), showing once again that God comes
first. All other family relationships should reflect that.
Deuteronomy 5:16 tells us to honor our parents so that we may live
long and so things will go well with us. No age limit is specified,
which leads us to believe that as long as our parents are alive, we
should honor them. Of course, once a child reaches adulthood, he is no
longer obligated to obey them ("Children, obey your parents..."), but
there is no age limit to honoring them. We can conclude from this that
parents are next in the list of priorities after God, our spouses, and
our children. After parents comes the rest of one's family (1 Timothy
5:8).
Following one's extended family in the list of priorities are fellow
believers. Romans 14 tells us not to judge or look down upon our
brothers (v. 10) or do anything to cause a fellow Christian to
"stumble" or fall spiritually. Much of the book of 1 Corinthians is
Paul's instructions on how the church should live together in harmony,
loving one another. Other exhortations referring to our brothers and
sisters in Christ are "serve one another in love" (Galatians 5:13);
"be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just
as in Christ God forgave you" (Ephesians 4:32); "encourage one another
and build each other up" (1 Thessalonians 5:11); and "consider how we
may spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24).
Finally comes the rest of the world (Matthew 28:19), to whom we should
bring the gospel, making disciples of Christ.
In conclusion, the scriptural order of priorities is God, spouse,
children, parents, extended family, brothers and sisters in Christ,
and then the rest of the world. While sometimes decisions must be made
to focus on one person over another, the goal is to not be neglecting
any of our relationships. The biblical balance is allowing God to
empower us to meet all of our relationship priorities, inside and
outside our families.
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