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Meals have long been important in God’s plan. There is this important connection between God, food, family, and fellowship. In the Old Testament God instituted festivals. These festivals were annual events for the children of Israel and involved them stopping their regular activities and coming together for fellowship and worship. In the ministry of Christ we see meals taking a prominent role as a regular context for his teaching. Jesus ate with sinners (Mat. 9:9-13), feed the multitudes a meal (Mat. 14:13-21, 15:32), told parables based on feasts (Matt. 22:1-14), and instituted his memorial feast in the context of a Passover meal (Mat. 26:17-30). In the resurrection accounts Jesus eats with his disciples (Luke 24:30-31, 41-43, John 21:7-13). The early church enjoys meals together as occasions of sharing, fellowship, and worship (Acts 2:46). They shared the Lord’s supper each first day of the week together (Acts 20:7). They enjoyed fellowship meals together called “love feasts” (Jude 12).
Since, God has placed an importance upon table fellowship it is no wonder that the family table is so valuable. In fact, besides giving your life to Christ and being faithful to His church as a family, one of the most life-changing things a family can do is have meals together.
Anthropologists and psychologists have long noted the benefits of eating meals together. Children that eat meals with their families are healthier, make better grades, are less likely to use drugs, alcohol, be sexually active, and be depressed. Families that eat together are closer and have less stress. (I put some links to statistics and other benefits in the footnotes.)
My Reasons of Why You Should Eat Meals Together as a Family
- It is a teaching opportunity. I like what Robin Fox, an anthropologist said, “A meal is about civilizing children. It is about teaching them to be a member of their culture.” (source)
- It is about conversation. All the studies discuss that meals allow for families to talk to each other. This is especially important for teenagers. This is why you need to have family meals as a tradition from a young age. It takes practice, and families get better at it over time. Parents should intentionally work on engaging the kids with good questions during the meal time.
- It is about uninterrupted time together as a family. Some families require all cell phones to be left away from the table or turned off. A family meal is not in front of the TV, except on special occasions like a big game! It is about just being together.
- It is about prayer and faith talks. Family meals should be started with a prayer. They give an opportunity to teach kids how to pray and for all to listen to them pray. They create a regular opportunity for faith talks and a reminder that our family leans on God.
- It is about some good food. I am a Ketchum, and us Ketchum’s love food. Most folks I know do too! We are so spoiled in this country to our food abundance. We can easily forget that food is a blessing from God. Meals teach children to enjoy a variety of food. They establish good eating habits and typically provide better choices than just eating on the go. Good meals create good memories!
If you want to change your family — eat meals together. You should want to have as a minimum of 5 meals together per week. If you are not at that mark now, give yourself some time, but start building toward that mark.
**Shout-out!** Before ending let me give credit and appreciation to the women in my life who make most of our meals happen. Thanks to my mom for fixing countless great meals for us growing up. Thanks to Amanda who works hard making healthy, delicious meals for our family today. And thanks to my mother-in-law, Loretta who has fixed many great meals for our family. Meal time for us has always been and will always be special.
What benefits has your family received from eating meals together?
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Footnotes:
Here are some good links with lots of benefits you might want to read as well.
