The Family is Ordained of God

God has established families to bring happiness to his children, to allow them to learn correct principles in a loving atmosphere, and to prepare them for eternal life. -Family Guidebook (pamphlet, 1992), iv.

The home is the great laboratory of love. There the raw chemicals of selfishness and greed are melded in the crucible of cooperation to yield compassionate concern and love one for another. -Russell M. Nelson, Our Sacred Duty to Honor Women, April 1999

Understanding the eternal nature of the family is a critical element in understanding Heavenly Father’s plan for His children. The adversary, on the other hand, wants to do everything in his power to destroy Heavenly Father’s plan. In his attempt to defeat God’s plan, he is leading an unprecedented attack on the institution of the family. Some of the more powerful weapons he uses in his attack are selfishness, greed, and pornography. Our eternal happiness is not one of Satan’s objectives. He knows that an essential key to making men and women miserable like himself is to deprive them of family relationships which have eternal potential. Because Satan understands that true happiness in this life and in the eternities is found in the form of family, he does everything in his power to destroy it. -Richard J. Maynes, Estabilishing a Christ-Centered Home, April 2011

The home and family have vital roles in cultivating and developing personal faith and testimony. The family is the basic unit of society; the best place for individuals to build faith and strong testimonies is in righteous homes filled with love. Love for our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ is greatly enhanced when the gospel is taught and lived in the home. True principles of eternal life are embedded in the hearts and souls of young and old alike when scriptures are read and discussed, when prayers are offered morning and night, and where reverence for God and obedience to Him are modeled in everyday conduct. Just as the best meals are home cooked, the most nourishing gospel instruction takes place at home. Strong, faithful families have the best opportunity to produce strong, faithful members of the Church. The recent proclamation to the world on the family issued by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles makes very clear that the family is ordained of God. The proclamation warns that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets. -M. Russell Ballard, Feasting at the Lord's Table, April 1996

Scriptures:

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. -John 15:15, Holy Bible

At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. -Jeremiah 31:1, Holy Bible

For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. -Ephesians 3:14-15, Holy Bible

And after Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit they were driven out of the garden of Eden, to till the earth. And they have brought forth children; yea, even the family of all the earth. -2 Nephi 2:19-20, Book of Mormon

Definitions:

family - a husband and wife and their children.
ordain - to consecrate, to decree, to appoint, to establish, to enact with authority.
God - the one Supreme Being, the creator and ruler of the universe. -Dictionary.com

family- As used in the scriptures, a family consists of a husband and wife, children, and sometimes other relatives living in the same house or under one family head. A family can also be a single parent with children, a husband and wife without children, or even a single person living alone.

ordain - To appoint or confer authority or office. To use authority in the Lord’s Church, a person must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority. Although a person may receive authority by ordination, he uses it under the direction of those who hold the particular keys for that authority. -Bible Dictionary