Recently I read a description of family as “the school for teaching almost everything.” That got me to thinking about how our family determines who we are.

We do not normally think of a family as a school or members as teachers, but the analogy is a valid one. As children we learn in many ways, but one important way is by observation. A family teaches values by the way they live.

If a child grows up in a family where love, respect and trust are the norm, he or she will learn to love, to respect and to trust. If a child grows up in a family where forgiveness is the norm, he or she will learn to forgive.

If, on the other hand, a child grows up in a family where anger, fear and disrespect are the norm, he or she will learn anger, fear and disrespect.

A child discovers God in the family. If family life is not permeated by the love of Christ and the gospel it is not likely that it will be learned in a classroom.

The values of the family in which we grow up are the ones which we are likely to carry throughout our lives. The family truly is “the school for teaching almost everything.”

What are the values lived and learned in your family?