The Importance of Family

Have you ever really considered whether the number of children you have is important? Or whether marriage, and a traditional family is worth it? Well the answer to both those questions is yes! Of course they are important on the gospel side of things – The family is central to God’s plan – but families are also important socially and economically as well, which is something I think a lot of people fail to realize. Back in about 1946, when the Baby Boom started and earth’s population started rising like crazy, people started to believe that this was a bad thing and that we were going to overpopulate the world, and that there would be mass starvation and the oil would run out and many other problems would arise. What they didn’t, and still don’t see is that while the population is increasing, fertility rates are decreasing. The average replacement rate, or how many children each woman needs to have to replace the generation before, is 2.13 children per woman. Unfortunately, the only developed country that is hitting the replacement birthrate, or at least close to it, is the U.S.A. Why is this important? Well if the fertility rate keeps dropping, then eventually the world’s population will hit its peak, and then it will slowly start decreasing. Once all those that were born during the baby boom are gone, what will happen to the economy? We won’t have people to fill all the houses and jobs they leave behind, which leads to real estate failing and other jobs going out of business (Stout, 2011). And that is just one example.

From a gospel view point, I love what President Spencer W. Kimball said in June of 1975, “You did not come on earth just to "eat, drink and be merry." You came knowing full well your responsibilities. You came to get for yourself a mortal body that could become perfected, immortalized, and you understood that you were to act in partnership with God in providing bodies for other spirits equally anxious to come to the earth for righteous purposes. And so you will not postpone parenthood. There will be rationalists who will name to you numerous reasons for postponement. Of course, it will be harder to get your college degrees or your financial start with a family, but strength like yours will be undaunted in the face of difficult obstacles”(Kimball, 1975). We have been taught that marriage between man and woman is essential, and that children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and we have also been commanded to multiply and replenish the earth (The First Presidency). I personally don’t think that God would command us to do so if it were going to cause problems like overpopulation and mass starvation.

There are so many trends these days that are not in accordance with God’s law. People are starting to put of marriage and just cohabitate instead, which leads to premarital sex, and children born outside of a marriage. This is a serious issue, because if children are born into a family without married parents, it is more likely that the parents will split up, leaving the child with a single parent. It is also not a good thing to put off marriage because the older you are when you get married and start a family, the less kids you will be able to have.

I come from a family of 8, my mom was one of 8, and her mom was one of 9. I plan to carry on the tradition and have at least 8 kids. Part of that is because we have been commanded to bring children into this world, but the other part of that is that I absolutely loved the big family. I have such a special and unique bond with each of my siblings that I wouldn’t trade for the world, and I want to be able to give my children that.

I hope this helped you gain some insight on the importance of families, be sure to check out the talks and video listed below! Thanks for reading! J

Resources:

Kimball, S. W. (n.d.). The Example of Abraham. Retrieved September 23, 2017, from https://www.lds.org/ensign/1975/06/the-example-of-abraham?lang=eng

Stout, R., McLarren, B., & Smoot, S. E. (2011). The New Economic Reality - Demographic Winter. Retrieved 2017, from http://www.theneweconomicreality.com/film.html

The First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (n.d.). The Family. Retrieved September 23, 2017, from https://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation?lang=eng&old=true