Mosiah 4:14-15
“And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the devil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness.
But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another"
Why is it important that we teach our children to love and serve
one another?
Because love is the great commandment, it ought to
be at the center of all and everything we do in our own family, in
our Church callings, and in our livelihood.
“Love one another; as I have loved you” (John
13:34). On this simple phrase hangs the success of every marriage and family. In
the light of Christ’s love we see our family’s divine potential. We love
them with all our heart, soul, and mind. And as we do, our ordinary family is
transformed into an extraordinary one.
How
did the Savior teach us to love and serve one another?
Jesus provided us many examples of compassionate
concern.The crippled man at the pool of Bethesda; the woman taken in adultery;
the woman at Jacob's well; the daughter of Jairus; Lazarus, brother of Mary and
Martha—each represented a casualty on the Jericho road. Each needed help.”
What
are some things that make it difficult
to
teach our children to love and serve one another?
The greatest joys and
the greatest sorrows we experience are in family relationships. The joys come from putting the welfare of others above our own.
That is what love is. And the sorrow comes primarily from
selfishness, which is the absence of love. The ideal God holds for us is to
form families in the way most likely to lead to happiness and away from
sorrow.”
There are so many people
in need whom we could be thinking about instead of ourselves. And please don’t
ever forget your own family, your own wife. There are so many ways we could
be serving. We have no time to become absorbed in ourselves.”
What resources are available to help us teach our children?
What can we do as an individual or as spouses to help love and
service to be part of our family life?
1)We have to make the choice that we WANT it.
2)We have to have the companionship of the Holy
Ghost. We must listen to the Spirit and then we need to obey the spirit.
3)We need to make a plan. We need to take time to think about our
children’s needs, strengths, weaknesses, desires, challenges. We can then
identify what we need to focus our efforts on and make a plan that will best
fit our family.
4)We need to seek answers in our prayers, in the scriptures, at
the temple, at General Conference, in our Sunday meetings, and in Relief
Society.
What are additional factors we should consider
when making a family plan to increase love?
1)Have ideals, identify
how you want your family to be. This will give you goals to work towards.
“Throughout
your life on earth, seek diligently to fulfill the
fundamental
purposes of this life through the ideal family.”
2. Create the right
physical environment (removing things that increase contention, adding things
that increase love)
3. Create opportunities to practice loving and serving.
Family Home Evening Lesson on "Love at Home"
Family Home Evening Lesson on "Love at Home"
4. Evaluate current methods of discipline and looking into new options
5. Make sure that
there is a balance in family life. One of our family sayings is:
“The family that prays, works, and plays together stays together.”
