It seems to me that society in general is more interested in experiencing life than committing to the lifelong process of developing healthy families. Marriage used to be a mutual commitment, for better or for worse, until death do us part. Not today; and even if weddings are more ostentatious than ever, people don’t really get married anymore. At the first sign of problems, they separate and abandon the commitment they made to each other in front of the altar. In fact, many don’t even bother to get married anymore, they just move in with each other and some even decide to have children, but rarely do they stay together.

The problem in our current culture is that people are more focused on experiences than in developing healthy relationships. Our culture overemphasizes experiences and underestimates the value of the commitment to develop healthy families. We are a culture rich in experiences, but poor in relationships. Let me ask you, at the end of your life, what’s going to be more important, your experiences or your relationships?

Your life today and in the future, will be the sum total of your relationships, your decisions and your experiences. And of these three, relationships is the most important, as they have impacted and will impact all your decisions and experiences. For this reason, we should be more committed to developing healthy relationships than to experiencing life. Now, apart from your relationship with God, your most important relationship should be your relationship with your family. And this relationship should be characterized by a commitment that lasts a lifetime.

To become a good man or a good woman has its price. It requires a commitment for life. Developing a good marriage has its price, it requires a commitment for life. Raising good children has its price, it requires the commitment to continuously grow as a father or mother. And developing a great family has its price, it requires a lifelong commitment to prioritize relationships above experiences.

Developing a healthy family requires that you commit to a lifelong process. And it requires that you realize that we are all part of that process. That we’re all going to say and do things that we shouldn’t have said or done. When we realize that we are all part of the process, then, we’ll be more willing to forgive and accept each other. And also, instead of just spending time with each other, we’ll be more willing to make the commitment to develop healthy relationships with one another.

“This is My command: that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” – Jesus

Heavenly Father, it’s so important to develop relationships instead of looking for experiences in life, because at the end of my days the most important thing is the relationships that I developed while I was on this earth, especially with you beloved Jesus. Help me to develop a healthy family by making a lifelong commitment to love others as you love me. Thank you my Lord. I praise you and give you all the glory today and always, amen.