One Flesh

Genesis 2:24 says, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."

This instruction was given right after God brought Eve to Adam, after the first operation and after Adam called Eve a woman. Adam and Eve do not have biological dads nor moms. They were the first parent. But still God gave this instruction to them, because God foreknew that they will they will soon have their own children and their children will have their own family in the future. The instruction is given to them because God expected them to relay this to their future children and to prepare them as well. God wanted them to know that once their sons decided to have their own family, their sons need to leave them and be with his wife. This instruction is repeated in Ephesians 5:31.

I believe that this instruction is not given for nothing. I believe that God forsee the problems that arise when the children who decided to settle down still stay on their parents side. For one, the couple will not learn to build their own family. They will still depend on their parents for almost everything; decisions, finances, taking care of their kids and many other things that they supposed to learn if they decided to live on their own. And for the parents who allowed this kind of setup, they are teaching their kids to be weaklings and dependent on them.

In countries where extended families are not being practiced, this is not a problem. But in Philippines, extended families are very common. Families of the children still live with their parents. There are even some cases where the families of the grandchildren still live in their grandparents' house. Clearly, God's commandment and instruction is being ignored. Sad, but this setup is acceptable in countries like Philippines.

Many didn't realize that this kind of setup is the root of many marital and family problems. Truly, if God's instruction is not obeyed, expect problems and hurts to face.