The Gospel Blesses Families
17 Jul 2010 2 Comments
in Restoration of the Church Tags: Armor of God, Arts, Book of Mormon, Christianity, Christianity for Seekers, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Dramas, Earth, Evangelism, Genesis, God, God the Father, Gordon B. Hinckley, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Lds, mormons, Religion and Spirituality, Salvation
“No success can compensate for failure in the home.” –Former Church President David O. McKay
Families are ordained of God. They are the most important social unit in time and in eternity.
God has established families to bring happiness to His children, allow them to learn correct principles in a loving atmosphere, and prepare them to return to Him after they die. Because families are ordained of God, they are the most important social unit in time and in eternity.
Marriage (Genesis 2:18) and family ( Genesis 1:28) are central focal points in God’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children. Your Heavenly Father wants you to do all you can during your time on Earth to prepare yourself to live in an eternal family.
Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on sound principles, like those that Jesus Christ taught. These principles include faith in Jesus Christ, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. A home established on gospel principles is a place of refuge and safety, where the Spirit of the Lord can abide, blessing family members with peace, joy, and happiness (“ The Family: A Proclamation to the World”).
No marriage or family is perfect. When dealing with challenging relationships, it may help to remember that each person on this earth is a beloved son or daughter of God and has a divine nature and destiny. Learning to love and serve your family members, as Christ taught, will help you become more like your Heavenly Father and will help you prepare to live with Him again in an eternal family.
I know personally how much my family has been blessed by the gospel, and how much the gospel means for my family. Whenever times are tough, i can always turn to my family for love and support. This also makes it easier to find my way back to my Heavenly Father and pray to Him for His guidance and support. I know that this church is true with all my heart, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that Heavenly Father loves and knows each and every one of His children and wants us all to return to live with Him someday. I leave these words in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!
Serving our fellow man
16 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in Spiritual Thoughts Tags: Armor of God, Book of Mormon, Christianity, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Evangelism, Forgiveness, God, Great Commandment, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, King Benjamin, Lamanite, Lds, Nephite, New Testament, Religion and Spirituality, spiritual thought, Stripling Warriors
Serve Others
Jesus Christ taught his disciples, “He who seeketh to save his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” (JST, Matt. 10:39). This great and true counsel, given in three of the four New Testament Gospels, focuses on our keeping the commandments. Yet it promises us that as we lose ourselves in serving God by serving others, we will find our way to exaltation.
In his farewell address, King Benjamin taught this same great truth to his people more than a hundred years before Jesus Christ’s mortal birth: “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17).
In fact, this general idea is so widely recognized in the world that social counselors everywhere often teach that discouragement and despair can sometimes be overcome by turning our attention away from ourselves and toward serving others. Of course, those with serious depression and clinically diagnosed emotional illness cannot be cured by merely focusing their attention elsewhere. But for many of us, discouragement or a case of the blues can be overcome by thrusting ourselves into a project in which someone else is the beneficiary. Some of the most rewarding work any of us will ever do is that which, when it is completed, we can look back on and can see how much someone else gained from it. In the process, optimism and hope about ourselves and life seep into our souls.
When we serve others, help them, strengthen them, we are in service to God. As He said, when you have done to the lest of these, you have done it unto me. We can serve God by serving others.
The Family:A Proclamation to the World
15 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in Church Articles Tags: Armor of God, Book of Mormon, Christianity, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Dramas, Evangelism, family, God, God the Father, Great Commandment, happiness, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, Lamanite, Lds, Lord Jesus Christ, mormons, Nephite, Religion and Spirituality, Salvation, Second Coming of Christ, Stripling Warriors, Ten Commandments, world
Following is a statement that the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles published about the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints.
“We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.
All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.
In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.
The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.
We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.
Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.
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 marital 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. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.
We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.
We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.”
This proclamation to the World means a lot to me and my family! I know that the things in here are true, and that if we follow this counsel from Heavenly Father, our lives will be blessed as we feel His love more abundantly in our everyday lives. I feel so blessed to have the strong family unity and support that I know have, without the Church, I doubt that our unity would be nearly as strong, especially in today’s society. For those of you that haven’t experienced an “ideal family,” know that Heavenly Father still loves you!! Through Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, all things are possible. Praying to Him in the name of His son, Jesus Christ, will bring peace unto your soul, I promise you that!! God bless!
