Family

The home is where love and responsibility are learned and where values are transmitted from one generation to the next. My attitude toward God began as our family bowed our heads around the dinner table, giving thanks for His gifts to us. My extended family played a key role in teaching me the meaning of love, and my immediate family passed down the Christian values that have been the core of my life. There was never a moment when I felt unloved or alone in facing life's problems.

The foundation on which the good life is built is the institution of the family. The healthy family depends on a common commitment among the members. The family members make a commitment to each other and to certain values, particularly religious faith. Complacency about such commitment and values can have profoundly negative consequences, and we see those consequences every day in our society - negligent or abusive parents, broken marriages and broken homes, and drug-or alcohol-addicted, underachieving, morally illiterate, or violent children. Without a foundation of spiritual values, our children have no resource to make it through difficult times.

Over the years, like most parents, Helen and I have made mistakes and hit a few bumps in the road. But we've always loved our children fiercely, and when it came time to pass down our values, we did so with diligence and care. We knew that if we were complacent about teaching our children the values of the Christian faith that we hold dear, someone else would do the job. And we might not like the values someone else taught them.

Do your best to pass on your values and religious faith, trust God for the rest, and be ever thankful for the most important institution of all: family.

If you're interested, there is more information about:
The most important event of all time and
The most important Book of all time.

email this message to a friend   |   DW Home

Rich DeVos is vice-chairman of Gospel Communications. He is also the author of "Hope From My Heart: Ten Lessons for Life," co-founder of Amway Corp., and owner and chairman of the NBA's Orlando Magic.