Family Class 2
Teachers
Lesson Summary
In the Family Class titled "Parenting Children," Dana Patterson addressed the common misconception that a couple only becomes a family after having children. She emphasized that the marriage relationship is the foundational unit designed by God, drawing on the Genesis account where God created a helper for Adam, establishing the first marriage (Genesis 2:17‑24). Patterson warned against child‑centered parenting that can distract from nurturing the spouse relationship, which she described as the primary hub influencing all other family dynamics. The lesson then linked biblical teaching to New Testament doctrine, citing Jesus' affirmation of the one‑flesh marriage in Matthew 19:4‑6 and Paul’s description of marital love in Ephesians 5:25‑33. These passages underscore the permanence and sacrificial nature of marriage, countering the modern view of marriage as a contract easily broken. Patterson concluded by affirming that children are a blessing and expansion of an already established family, not its completion, and encouraged couples to prioritize their marital relationship as they welcome new life into their home.
Key Scriptures
The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'... So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken from man.' That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.