The Family

"The Family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor martial vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work and wholesome recreational activities."

-The Family: A Proclamation to the World-

 

 

I love the sentence in The Family: A Proclamation for the World, "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work and wholesome recreational activities." I think the part that stands out to me in this sentence is the parts of the gospel, faith and repentance. One of the first principles we teach as missionaries is how the gospel blesses families no matter the type or style. Every family is so different, some would seem nearly perfect while others wear the visual effects of neglect. Something that has always impressed me about the gospel is how when we incorporate it into our lives we can then in turn bless our family. When each individual member of the family is working towards improving themselves by developing qualities of love, respect, compassion and many other Christ like attributes we naturally turn out from ourselves and to turn to those around us. I remember as a young girl I was home by myself with my father. He had gone out to start preparing a tractor to rake hay while I took a nap after a long week. My father was always a very hard worker and I knew that he wore himself down providing for our family. He had said that I could sleep until he had it already then he would come in and get me to take the tractor out to rake so that he could get caught up with his job. I slept for a while and when I finally work up it was about two hours later and the tractor was gone. I realized that my dad had sacrificed all the other chores he had to do so that I could sleep. That has never left me and I have always known the love my father had for me and for all of my siblings and my mom. While it was so small, it left a huge impact on me! I can remember seeing my mom doing her scripture study late at night before she went to bed and I knew how important scripture study was by her example! I am so grateful that God gave us families and whether or not your family is close or distant, we each have people who we can lean on and fill that role of family and most importantly we can improve ourselves through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end to bless our families and all those around us. I know that family is ordained of God and so sacred to him! May we each try to improve our family life so the Spirit of the Lord can reside in our homes!