Merry Christmas! As we reflect more on the life of the Savior in this Christmas season, and spend more time with our families, it is likely that in our lives is an air of happiness, peace, and contentment; or, it could just be a stomach full of fines meats, cakes, and candies, the setting in of what I lovingly call "Holiday Hangover."
Assuming that this warm, fuzzy feeling (see http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1117-27,00.html) is due to the Christmas Spirit, let me reflect on the importance that our families play in the whole scheme of happiness beyond the Yuletide gleam. Our families are ever important for our learning and growth, and they are essential to Heavenly Father's Plan of Happiness. I know that through modern revelation prophets have declared that the family is ordained of God, and that we may live with our families eternally. This great blessing of having an eternal family is contingent, however, upon our being willing to follow the Lord's commandments throughout the duration of our mortal experience. Foremost among these commandments is making sacred covenants in God's Holy Temples. The standard for families is the same as the standard for individuals. Upon making promises in the temple we are also promised great blessings (as is the definition of a covenant), exaltation being the crown jewel. But this can only be achieved as we dedicate our lives to the love and service of our families, as well as all those who surround us. God commands us to be perfect (3 Ne. 12: 48); it is our job to figure out how to achieve it.
In 1995, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles released "The Family: A Proclamation to the World," which laid out in plainness Heavenly Father's opinion on the family as a unit. Here are some highlights, as summarized by Elder M. Russel Ballard in the October 2005 General Conference:
“Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God.”
• “Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.”
• “Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children.”
• “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.”
• “The disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.”
And the last words of the proclamation express the simple truth that the family is “the fundamental unit of society.”
He went on to say:
The world needs to know what the proclamation teaches, because the family is the basic unit of society, of the economy, of our culture, and of our government. And as Latter-day Saints know, the family will also be the basic unit in the celestial kingdom.
In the Church, our belief in the overriding importance of families is rooted in restored doctrine. We know of the sanctity of families in both directions of our eternal existence. We know that before this life we lived with our Heavenly Father as part of His family, and we know that family relationships can endure beyond death.
If we live and act upon this knowledge, we will attract the world to us. Parents who place a high priority on their families will gravitate to the Church because it offers the family structure, values, doctrine, and eternal perspective that they seek and cannot find elsewhere.
Our family-centered perspective should make Latter-day Saints strive to be the best parents in the world. It should give us enormous respect for our children, who truly are our spiritual siblings, and it should cause us to devote whatever time is necessary to strengthen our families. Indeed, nothing is more critically connected to happiness—both our own and that of our children—than how well we love and support one another within the family.
It is this "striving" that helps us endure through the trials that will come upon all families in the course of a lifetime. What does "striving" feel like? In my opinion, if this is done right, it feels difficult (and at times painful) but ever hopeful. It involves staying positive, and not being swayed by every wind of doctrine (James 1:6). As a family, it may mean putting off those things that seem so attractive in "the now," as those things that endure the world are more desirable. Might I suggest that we all look inside ourselves, and decide to strive to strengthen our families. This is in accordance with God's Plan. Upon doing so, we will find where we are lacking. Let us then have courage to move toward improving that we may reach our full potential. This, of course, is an inheritance as a family unit in the Celestial Kingdom. Oh, what a great blessing if we just strive today and tomorrow!
It is my hope and prayer that we all may remember why we are in families. They exist to strengthen us; let find strength, and give it as well. I hope that we will strive this coming year to love a little more, and remember a little more why we love our "loved ones."
Have a great week!
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