Friday, September 28, 2018

Lesson Two: Creating Strong Families



President Kimball states in his talk, Families can be Eternal, in Oct. 1980, “only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us.”  What stood out to me in this quote was the word actively.  Becoming a strong family requires more than just caring about each other, it involves action. 
There are many things we can do as we strive to strengthen our families.  Some things include what our prophets and leaders have counseled us to do, such as family prayer, scripture study, and family home evening.  My husband and I have tried to turn these three things mentioned above into habits for our family.  Our children are not quite raised yet, but I know that we have been blessed with more love in our home and better relationships because of following the counsel of our leaders.  
I have a strong testimony of the truths taught in the Family: A Proclamation to the World.  If we want to strengthen our families, we would be wise to read and follow the counsel found in the proclamation.  First, the teachings in the beginning paragraphs will strengthen each person individually, in knowing that each person is a beloved son or daughter of God.  Strong testimonies that we are all children of God helps to build and strengthen families.  Near the end of the proclamation it reads that, “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.  Most of these words mentioned are action words.  It takes work to create healthy, happy, and strong families but it is worth any and all effort that we put into it.  And as President Kimball counsels it is what is necessary to keep our families safe in an increasingly wicked world. 


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