How Does the Success Sequence Affect Families?

Genesis 2:24 (KJV) – Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

The truth of God’s Word is a reality whether or not someone believes it. Researchers have proven that God’s way is the best way, “If you live in the First World, there is a simple and highly effective formula for avoiding poverty:

  1. Finish high school.
  2. Get a full-time job once you finish school.
  3. Get married before you have children.

This is something I’ve taught previously in other sermon series, but it bears repeating. Researchers call this formula the ‘success sequence’…97% of Millennials who follow what has been called the ‘success sequence’—that is, who get at least a high school degree, work, and then marry before having any children, in that order—are not poor by the time they reach their prime young adult years (ages 28-34).” (1)

According to a 2017 study of scholars from Cornell University, Brigham Young University, and the University of Virginia, “all other things being held equal, states with higher-than-average marriage rates among their working-aged adults had higher-than-average economic performance. They also found that if marriage rates for households with children were the same today as they were back in 1980, median income in the average state would be nearly 11% higher and child poverty would be about 25% lower. This is a complicated sociological story. Graduation, work, and marriage before children can be both causes and effects. And I’m not saying that people who make poor decisions when they are young can’t better themselves — or shouldn’t be helped to do so. My own mother was born out-of-wedlock. She persevered and prospered. But no government program can ever fully substitute for strong families formed by educated, responsible adults. Saying so doesn’t make you a curmudgeon.” (2)

What the believer should consider normal is not what we see in the world, but rather what we read in the Word. Since sin entered the world, everything in the world is abnormal – bent and twisted away from God’s perfect divine design. 

Did you follow the success sequence in your life? If not, have you repented of that sin and been honest about the pain it has caused you and others? 

  1. https://ifstudies.org/blog/what-does-the-success-sequence-mean
  2. https://www.carolinajournal.com/opinion/family-structure-shapes-economic-outcomes/?sfcid=0034W00003LyOsvQAF&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=855206&refcd=855206&utm_source=RelevantResources

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