The real, live family.

“Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table” (Psalm 128:1–3).

Can you imagine how sad it is not to have any family at all?

A scientist once took some baby monkeys away from their mothers. To replace the mothers, he gave them each a fake mother-monkey made from wire. Some of these wire statues he covered with soft cloth, and some were even heated to be warm—and for all of the monkeys he attached a little bottle of milk in order to feed them. But the baby monkeys became so upset that they acted very strangely, and some even died from sadness. People were relieved to hear that these were not human babies, of course, but they also decided that this scientist did a cruel thing, for this experiment was not nice to do to any of God’s creatures.

What was missing? Most of the baby monkeys had food and warmth. But they did not have love and nurturing. They had no one of their species to care for them. All they had was a statue. . . .

We can thank our Creator that we are not cared for by statues! The Lord designed the family circle to be a safe, comforting unit to cradle the babies, guide the children, strengthen the adults, and to care tenderly for the elderly.

In God’s plan, what is a family? In the Bible, our Creator shows that it begins with a marriage directed by Him, between one man and one woman who stay together until death. Then, if the husband and wife become parents, they are to be thankful for their children as a precious gift of God, to guide and prepare them for eternity.

Sadly, in this world, the enemy of souls has done cruel experiments on the human race—kind of like that scientist did with the baby monkeys. Satan has come up with all sorts of strange ideas that are different from what God has planned—and many people are suffering because of them.

So, what is the answer to this problem? We need to go back to God’s word and to the Spirit of Prophecy to learn more about His will and His ways for the family. The Lord loves us, even more than any human being on earth can love us. He’s the One who gives us His plan to care for and nurture us. When we obey His Word for the family circle, we are much happier!