Problems can arise though when parents overstep their boundaries and meddle in their married children’s business, or married  children continue to be emotionally dependent on their parents. Therefore, it’s important that everyone has this sorted out before adult children decide to marry.

Among our favorite things to do over the holiday season is spending time with our adult children and grandkids. One of our children lives in Southern California and every Christmas their family makes the trek  to Northern Nevada, no matter how nasty the road conditions are.

We always look forward to the blessed chaos that descends upon our home—rosy cheeked kids playing in the snow, late nights together by the fire,  copious amounts of food, and clutter everywhere. And when everyone leaves and all is quiet again, I am reminded why God made parents young [smile].

It’s always hard saying good-bye because we only get to be together two or three times a year. I can’t imagine how heart wrenching the farewells must have been for my European ancestors when adult children set sail for America knowing they might never see their parents again.

But the idea of leaving parents and cleaving to one’s spouse was God’s good design for marriage and it is so vital that Genesis 2:24 is repeated three times in the New Testament: Matthew 19:5, Mark 10:7-8, and Ephesians 5:31. Christian parents need to teach and model these principles so that their children will be prepared to transfer their deepest affections and allegiance to their spouse when they marry.

The Hebrew word for “cleave” used in Genesis is dabaq, meaning to cling or adhere to like glue. There is a divine purpose in this exclusively intimate relationship that Ephesians speaks of as a profound mystery illustrating the relationship between Christ and His beloved Bride the church.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” Ephesians 5:31-32

Problems can arise though when parents overstep their boundaries and meddle in their married children’s business, or married children continue to be emotionally dependent on their parents. Therefore, it’s important that everyone has this sorted out before adult children decide to marry.

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