Extracted from Ps YC's Blog Look Far in the Vision - Family or Mere Friends? In G12, every person is eventually cornered and faced with this question - "what is family to you?" There is a distinct difference between family and friends. The foundation of friendship is closeness, the foundation of family is commitment. For friends, commitment MAY happen with increasing closeness. For family, closeness WILL develop as we remain committed. In family, mutual responsibility is supreme. Among friends, space for mutual rights is key. We cannot choose family, we surrender to God's wisdom as he "places" us, and we accept our responsibility. We choose our friends, we exercise our rights & determine who they are. Friends are so much safer and fun, after all, less is at stake. We keep our distance. Family is tough, the more we give, the more we are likely to get disappointed. In fact, friends who hurt us are close friends, almost family-like. So if friends are all that more fun and less binding, why do we ever choose families? Why not just have friends and all be happy? Because we came from families. Family gives us an unmovable sense of security - it is where we reproduce and host a suitable environment for the next generation. Friends simply give us pleasure. Nobody reproduces in a friendship. Except maybe among these kinds of friends: We need ONE family, but we can have MANY different friends. We can change friends. Just let them do what they please and we'll find a bunch. But we cannot find families, we cannot decide them. Someone else chose commitment, that's why we were born into family. Kids love friends, developed adults treasure commitment. The number one reason why adults do not want to bear kids is for their personal freedom, their rights - perhaps they did not grow up to gradually give up rights for responsibility -which works out right as well, the kids will suffer anyway if unconditional commitment is not in place. Eventually that generation passes away without descendents, and their influence and impact fades away. As you prepare to look far in the vision, are you ready to accept your place in the family? Start with commitment and soon you'll be the host to lots of happy children. And when they experience what love is (followed by discipline to teach responsibility), we start to see God's kingdom grow. There is never a better time to start than with your family NOW.