Our "children are an heritage of the Lord" (Psalm 127:3). He knows and loves each one with perfect love (see Moroni 8:17). What a sacred responsibility Heavenly Father places upon us as parents to partner with Him in helping His choice spirits become what He knows they can become.
This divine privilege of raising our children is a much greater responsibility than we can do alone, without the Lord's help. He knows exactly what our children need to know, what they need to do, and what they need to be to come back into His presence. He gives mothers and fathers specific instruction and guidance through the scriptures, His prophets, and the Holy Ghost.
In a latter-day revelation through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord instructs parents to teach their children to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Notice the Lord doesn't just say we are to "teach the doctrine"; His instructions are to teach our children to "understand the doctrine." (See D&C 68:25, 28; emphasis added.)
In Psalms we read, "Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart" (Psalm 119:34).
Teaching our children to understand is more than just imparting information. It's helping our children get the doctrine into their hearts in a way that it becomes part of their very being and is reflected in their attitudes and behavior throughout their lives.
- Cheryl A. Esplin, “Teaching Our Children to Understand“, April 2012 General Conference
Tag Archives: understanding
Promises for Scripture Study
We are promised great blessings in this life also, if we will study and live the word of the Lord. Here are just a few of the blessings we may receive:
1. Power to live righteously2. Power to overcome evil3. Power to change the heart and attitude4. Increase in hope and joy5. Increase in knowledge and understanding6. Increase in testimony
Jay E. Jensen, “Promises,” Friend, August 1995
Continuing the Search for Truth
We are apparently part of an expanding universe. Secular knowledge is expanding very rapidly. Our knowledge of gospel truth is also expanding. Prophets continue to speak. Increased understanding of the scriptures is also possible. And so the opportunities for the abundant life increase as we pursue the quest for truth and knowledge. - James E. Faust, “The Abundant Life,” Ensign (CR) October 1985
“John, leave it alone”
I love general conference. I love what the inspired messages do for me and others, both during and following conference. I love the stories told that inspire us to choose the right and let go of the wrong. The following story shared by President Boyd K. Packer at the April 2011 General Conference is one such story. – Grandpa Tony
“John, leave it alone.”
“Latter-day Saints are taught to love one another and to frankly forgive offenses.
“My life was changed by a saintly patriarch. He married his sweetheart. They were deeply in love, and soon she was expecting their first child.
“The night the baby was born, there were complications. The only doctor was somewhere in the countryside tending to the sick. After many hours of labor, the condition of the mother-to-be became desperate. Finally, the doctor was located. In the emergency, he acted quickly and soon the baby was born, and the crisis, it appeared, was over. But some days later, the young mother died from the very infection that the doctor had been treating at another home that night.
“The young man's world was shattered. As the weeks wore on, his grief festered. He thought of little else, and in his bitterness he became threatening. Today, no doubt, he would have been pressed to file a malpractice suit, as though money would solve anything.
“One night a knock came at his door. A little girl said simply, "Daddy wants you to come over. He wants to talk to you."
"Daddy" was the stake president. The counsel from that wise leader was simply "John, leave it alone. Nothing you do about it will bring her back. Anything you do will make it worse. John, leave it alone."
“This had been my friend's trial. How could he leave it alone? A terrible wrong had been committed. He struggled to get hold of himself and finally determined that he should be obedient and follow the counsel of that wise stake president. He would leave it alone.
“He said, "I was an old man before I understood and could finally see a poor country doctor--overworked, underpaid, run ragged from patient to patient, with little medicine, no hospital, few instruments, struggling to save lives, and succeeding for the most part. He had come in a moment of crisis, when two lives hung in the balance, and had acted without delay. I finally understood!" He said, "I would have ruined my life and the lives of others."
“Many times he had thanked the Lord on his knees for a wise priesthood leader who counseled simply, "John, leave it alone."
“Around us we see members of the Church who have become offended. Some take offense at incidents in the history of the Church or its leaders and suffer their whole lives, unable to get past the mistakes of others. They do not leave it alone. They fall into inactivity.
“That attitude is somewhat like a man being hit by a club. Offended, he takes up a club and beats himself over the head with it all the days of his life. How foolish! How sad! That kind of revenge is self-inflicting. If you have been offended, forgive, forget it, and leave it alone. – Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “Guided by the Holy Spirit”, April 2011 General Conference
D&C 64: 10– I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.