Family Relationship Help

QUESTION: Where can I find family relationship help?

ANSWER:

Before you turn to a book, website, or counselor for family relationship help, it is a great idea to think deeply about your family struggles and seek to determine the area(s) where help is most urgently needed. If your spouse is willing to discuss his or her thoughts about the type of family relationship help needed, talking through the difficulties you are having could be a major step toward reconciling the problems you are experiencing in your relationship.

If you have children and they are willing to also share with you the areas where they feel family relationship help is needed, you can all become part of a team working together to seek solutions, and resolve your conflicts.

Once you have determined, as best you can, the areas where family relationship help will be of use, it is time to seek the help you need. But where you do start? Are websites good resources for family relationship help, or is a marriage counselor the place to begin? Could learning together about marital intimacy be good for you, or would a weekend marriage seminar¹ be the key to restoration?

Whatever course of action you choose, there are actions you can take -- right now -- which will aid you greatly in laying the foundation for restoration and the family relationship help you need:

• Treat your family the way you would like your family to treat you. To learn more about this critical component of healthy relationships a fantastic guide is God’s Word, the Bible. Jesus, God’s Son, talks about how we should treat others in Matthew 7:12.
  
  
• Be willing to apologize and admit that you are wrong. Jesus gives clear direction about this area of personal relationships in Matthew 5:23-24.

As someone who has experienced the need for family relationship help, I urge you to seek the best help you can ever possibly receive by making sure that you have a personal relationship with Jesus. He has declared "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light" (Matthew 11:28-29).