There is nothing so precious as the family—no social unit, civic organization, or charitable operation. I suppose that is because God, Himself, established the family. His divine wisdom observed, "It’s not good for man to be alone; I will make a him a compatable helper" (Gen.2:18). And along with marriage, God gave us the privilege of joining Him in His work as Creator.

Starting a family is an awesome responsibility, with the possibility of joys as well as heartaches, and certainly is not to be entered into lightly. It carries with it the responsibility of transferring our faith to our children.

Scripture has the formula. We are instructed in Deuteronomy 11:18–21 to lay up God’s words in our hearts and souls and make them a part of our everyday living, bringing them into our conversations so that we and our children will be blessed. In other words: Believe it, then live it.

Research shows that modern adults are often spiritual, but not religious. Naturally, you want your children to follow in your footsteps of faith and grow close to the Lord in the same way you did. Though they may believe in God and a higher power that lays claim to their lives, sometimes their expression of faith doesn’t look exactly like yours. And as frightening as that is, it is their right.

Our job is to teach them God’s words through our own personal relationship with Him, making it practical, attractive, desirable, and meaningful. That is where many of us fail. We can have different styles of parenting as long as they are couched in unquestionable love and affirmation. To accomplish this, we need divine help. God is eager to help us. He created family, and knows how to best lead us to become families of faith.

Jackie and I recently celebrated 50 years of marriage. Our children, along with their children and their children's children, all came to celebrate this special occasion with us. During the several days that followed, we had opportunities to reminisce and rehearse many situations and memories—some happy, some sad, and some tragic. That's the way it is with families.

The one fact that kept arising in our conversations was how we were always there to lift each other. But the question that plagued Jackie and me was: "Did we do enough to give our children a good foundation of faith?" We had a lively discussion about it, because Jackie and I were questioning our effectiveness. The consensus was that our progeny had more than adequate spiritual modeling. Reassured that God’s promises are true we continue to live our faith, entrusting each of them to the watchful care of our loving Father.