THE MOST POWERFUL SEGMENT OF SOCIETY THAT CAN DEFEAT THE PROLIFERATION OF ILLEGAL DRUGS IN OUR COMMUNITIES IS GOD-CENTERED FAMILY

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In this world, family must always be the center of our lives and the top of our priorities. Our Christian faith even allures to us being members of one big family. The human family of Joseph, Mary and Jesus is the model of this. At the center of our Heavenly Father’s plan, the family lies at the center.

‘Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. ‘Children are heritage of the Lord’ (Psalms 127:3).

Indubitably, ‘parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.’

What does this challenge tell us? Well, it tells us that we need to make our homes a place where Gospel values are lived by and human goodness is nourished. No trace of illegal drugs can penetrate or enter into the sacred portals of the homes when the parents primarily are the ones leading their children to the reverential fear of the Lord. Children, even with the peer pressure, could not be swayed by their barkadas when they have the family as fall back when storms come their way and uncertainty seems to lead them astray. There should not even be smallest openings in our homes that are left unattended. When there are occasions of misunderstandings among the family members, we should not let the sun go down without those things being resolved. This is because once negative vibes and influences can penetrate the very walls of our homes, chances are, doors will be widely open for strong negativities to enter in.

And so, as parents, our obligations run deep into our veins. We are the ones who will preside over our own families. It is disheartening to hear in the news and know first hand from our neighbours that heinous crimes of murder and rape for instance are committed not by strangers but by parents themselves on their helpless children. The reason behind? Illegal drugs. Parents therefore have become slaves to illegal drugs.

These things could be avoided when, in the family, children and youth are shown, through prophetic words and through living examples, the importance of loving and honoring their parents and that in the first place, we are taught ways of building and maintaining close family ties, both in good times and in difficult times so that we can fill our homes with warmth, love, and the strength of the Gospel.

May it be our resolve to build a Gospel-centered home, a safe havens from the storms of illegal drugs because the Family remains to be and will always be the most powerful unit of society that can defeat the proliferation of illegal drugs in our country.

May God bless our families.