Your Parents Matter

Our parents give us so much. From our very first heartbeat, they sacrifice no small amount of sweat, blood, and treasure to bring us to full adulthood. They love us unconditionally, and work to give us a good life. We, in turn, trust our parents implicitly, and try to give them the respect and obedience due to them. No other relationships in our lives can compare to the importance of that with our parents. Our parents matter to us so much because we have a biological connection to them, and our bodies teach us that we should depend on them to lead us in life.

No relationship can replace that of parents. Research shows that children who have two present and engaged parents do better in terms of education, mental health, and maintaining religious affiliation. Not even teachers, who play their own critical role, can take the place of parents in the development of children. If children have any doubts about the stability of their home, they will struggle to focus on educational topics.

Tolstoy portrays this well in his novel Anna Karenina. In it, the main character, Anna, chooses to abandon her family after she has an affair with an army officer. Her husband in turn tells their son, Serezha, that his mother died. Too young to understand death, Serezha disbelieves the lie, but wonders where his mother has gone. He begins to ask himself a question in his mind: “Am I loved?” As he ponders this question, he begins to fail his studies, much to the consternation of his father and tutor. He simply cannot focus on school when he doesn’t even know if he is loved.

God loves each of us particularly and shows us this through the love of our parents. Much like Serezha, when we don’t know we are loved, we get distracted from the things that keep us healthy. God gave us parents to whom we belong, and gave us bodies that affirm that truth. He wants us to enjoy an abundant life, and knows that we need His love before we can truly enjoy all the other gifts of His creation. Our parents model the love God has for us. Just as He sacrificed His only son to save us, our parents sacrifice their time, money, and often health to provide for us. Just as God gives us life, our parents cooperated with Him to create our bodies.