Acts 2:46-47 – And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes…praising God…And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
A man by the name of W. Bradford Wilcox is the Director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia and a professor of sociology. He’s one of the leading researchers on marriage and family and is oftentimes brought into the limelight around Father’s Day to report on the status of fatherhood in America. I haven’t necessarily heard any indication that he’s a Christian but, much of his research points towards the positive relationship between Christian faith and family success.
In his book Soft Patriarchs, New Men, he explains that “religion domesticates men in ways that make them more responsive to the aspirations and needs of their immediate families.” It’s a book I found to be very helpful and informative and one I would encourage you to read as you architect your families and future families.
His research shows that those men who attend church with their families and worship together at home through Bible reading and prayer are better fathers and husbands and have better families. As a father, they’re more active and involved in their children’s lives and are more encouraging and helpful towards their kids and family. As a husband, their wives have the highest rate of marital satisfaction, more date nights, and the lowest number of domestic violence cases. Their families have the lowest divorce rates and the highest satisfaction rates.
Isn’t it incredible when science substantiates Scripture? Isn’t it curious when the outside, unbelieving world, separate from the Bible, can also arrive at the importance of worshipping together as a family?
As you look forward to the new year, make worshipping together as a family a priority and, if this isn’t currently a priority, re-architect your schedule and lives to make it a priority.
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