“The Lord God Gave Unto Man That He Should Act For Himself”

Book of Mormon Marriage And Family Study

"Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other."

“Our Heavenly Father’s goal in parenting is not to have His children do what is right; it is to have His children choose to do what is right and ultimately become like Him. If He simply wanted us to be obedient, He would use immediate rewards and punishments to influence our behavior.”

“But when we get off the path, God is saddened because He knows that this eventually, but invariably leads to diminished happiness and forfeited blessings. In the scriptures getting off the pat is referred to as sin, and the resultant decrease in happiness and forfeited blessings is called punishment. In this sense, God is not punishing us; punishment is a consequence of our choices, not His.” Elder Renlund, Choose You This Day, October 2018 General Conference.

We want children who choose the Lord because they love Him and not because they are following orders. Our role as parents is to turn our children to the Lord and help them know Him.

How can we help our children to hunger and thirst after righteousness?

How does this apply to marriage and family?

Our job as parents is to convert our children to Jesus Christ so thoroughly that nothing can undo it. Imagine their life if they only feared Jesus Christ to the point they would do anything for Him regardless of what others thought. Additionally, imagine the feeling of making a difference they would have if they actually had the power to fight the Devil?

Can this be done with young children? I believe it can. From birth unto 8, they are immune to Satan. This is the time when we can influence them the most.

If you live in the Salt Lake City valley, I invite you to join us at church on Sunday's. Currently we meet at 9 A.M.; however, starting in January we will change to noon. We are a mid-singles ward; however, if you have a family please don't let that stop you. Please, join us for for our first meeting which is Sacrament meeting, and make sure you ask someone to introduce you to our ward mission leader. Our address is 7155 South 540 East, Midvale Utah, 84047.