When my children were small we would watch ‘Family Matters’ on Friday Nights (Remember TGIF).  The star for us was Steve Urkel (“Did I do that?”).  As we head into Father’s Day, I think it is good to think of ‘Family Matters’  because families matter.

No society has survived the long-term effects that accompany the breakdown of the family. Here are some family statistics…

45-50% of all first marriages in the U.S. end in divorce, the highest rate int he industrialized world, and 60-70% of all second marriages end in divorce. One million children yearly have parents who are separated or divorced.

There are nearly 800,000 adolescent pregnancies each year. Nearly 30% of all teen girls will get pregnant at least once and two0thirds of those will not complete high school.  one out of every six pregnancies is to a teenager. Nearly 750,000 of those will be aborted; 79% are unmarried and 80% of this group will go on welfare.

Nearly one in three children now lives in a single parent home. The rate has tripled since 1960, when only 5% of all births were out of wedlock. In 2010, 40% of all American births and 80% of minority births occurred out of wedlock; 84% of these homes will have no father and 40% will live at or below the poverty level.

The fastest growing segment of the criminal population is our nation’s young people. In the last two decades, the arrest rate for juveniles committing murder increased 93% (72% for aggravated assault and 24% for forcible rape). About three million thefts and violent crimes occur on or near a school campus each year (nearly 16,000 incidents per day).  20% of high school students now carry a firearm, knife, razor, club or some other weapon on a regular basis.

The reason I give these statistics is to show that our families need God’s help.  I think the disintegration of the family is due to the internal moral decay of our society and the general loss of God-awareness.  We cannot look to our government or society to help bring our families back together.  The lessons of moral, character, and spiritual development begin in the home and are really supported by the local church.  So, let us make a commitment this Father’s Day to our family and church and not let Satan deter us from making them what God wants them to be – Heaven on Earth.