Strengthening Families
As sisters in the gospel, we readily claim that we desire strong families. The question posed today, however, is, "Are we willing to do the work it takes to build strong families?" In The Family proclamation, we learn that successful families and marriages are built on several principles, including work.
We learn how to work, love, serve and sacrifice best in families. This is our Father in Heaven's design. "The purpose of working together in the home - to foster growth, to forge unity, and to learn charity - far exceeds mere economic profit." (Strengthening Our Families, p. 183)
In the beginning, we may understand work in families to be a means to an end...the maintaining of a physical home and the physical nurturing of people.
"Family work is a link to one another, a link to the Lord, a stepping-stone toward salvation that is always available. This daily work of feeding, clothing, and sheltering each other has the power to transform us spiritually as we transform others physically." (SOF, p. 179)
- Make binding connections with family by working together in love (in inviting children to work with you, you may "accomplish" less on the to-do list, but time spent together will pay off dividends)
- Teach family members to contribute effort to the good of the whole family, not just self-tasks such as: clean your room, put away your laundry, clear your place.
- Teach family members to look for things that need to be done and to act.
- As the thought process changes from "what do I need to do?" to "is there anything I can do to help you?" the Christlike quality of compassion arises. What a gift to individuals, to families and to our Heavenly Father.
"We must work at our responsibilities as parents as if everything in life counted on it, because in fact everything in life does count on it. If we fail in our homes, we fail in our lives...the consequences of your leadership in your home will be eternal and everlasting." President Gordon B. Hinckley
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