Happy Families: The basis of thriving communities

Family values are often treated as a private matter, yet their influence extends far beyond the home. The family is where children learn by example, and by the way they are treated, how people relate to one another. Healthy family relationships are crucial for the happiness and contentment of each member of the family, and for the well-being of society. 

A loving, unified, and joyful family can provide the ideal conditions for the well-being of its members in all aspects of life – physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional.  

According to the Baha'i Writings: “If love and agreement are manifest in a single family, that family will advance, become illumined and spiritual; but if enmity and hatred exist within it, destruction and dispersion are inevitable,” and "… where unity existeth in a given family, the affairs of that family are conducted; what progress the members of that family make, how they prosper in the world, their concerns are in order, they enjoy comfort and tranquillity, they are secure, their position is assured, they come to be envied by all" .  

United and happy families are the basis for flourishing communities. Such families can make vital contributions to the development and transformation of its members, to the advancement of their communities, and to the establishment of a peaceful and prosperous global order. 

It is within the family that character is developed, moral and spiritual attitudes are formed, and where one should learn to serve the common good. It is within the family where the values of tolerance, peace, and social responsibility can be initiated and taught. And it is in the family where a sense of responsibility and of values such as loving, caring and sharing are developed. 

“[S]trengthening the family by providing its members with appropriate vision, values, and virtues, that is, an adequate spiritual/moral as well as social/cultural/economic dimension, would represent”, in the Bahá'í view, “strengthening international security at the root level by forging harmonious ties between members of the human race, and contributing decisively towards the building of world peace”. 

It is within the family that teaching justice and fair-mindedness to children must start. The social and spiritual values they learn at home will apply not only in the context of the family, but outside in their local, national and global communities as well. 

Through an appropriate education, says the Universal House of Justice, the international governing council of the Bahá’í Faith: “children gradually learn to look beyond their own interests to those of their family” and “recognize the importance of respecting the interests of others and see as a sacred obligation service to their neighbours. At a higher level still, proper education can help children to broaden their horizons and set their sights on the advancement and glory of their nation. And when their breadth of vision expands even wider, they will undoubtedly come to see the progress of the entire human race and the furtherance of the true interests of all the peoples of the world as a guiding purpose of their lives”. 

For feedback please contact: secretary.nsa@bahai.org.za or (011) 801 3100 

Websites:  www.bahai.org,  www.bahai.org.za