Week 3 Defending God's Law

Elder Dallin H. Oaks. of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has put it best: “Even as we seek to be meek and to avoid contention, we must not compromise or dilute our commitment to the truths we understand. We must not surrender our positions or our values.”

As Latter Day Saints, our religious values regarding traditional marriage are under attack. It is our obligation to rally together to help strengthen and support these values. The Proclamation to the Family states, "The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan." These are the values that we believe and want taught to our children. However, our children are being invaded upon by laws that legalize same-sex marriage. The issue of same-sex marriage strikes at the very heart of our family unit. This issue has the ability to greatly impact the welfare of our children, but only if we stand by and let it.

When this law was passed, marriage was redefined. There are many types of “families” in the world that include same-sex marriage, and they do not follow the laws of God. It is important to teach our children to be loving and kind to all people, but this not does not mean we need to accept this as a lifestyle. As my children have gotten older, they have been exposed to a lot more things that go against our beliefs than I ever was as a child. One of my children’s teacher is a gay individual. This teacher is very open about her lifestyle. As my child has come home and talked with me about this, we have talked about how this makes him feel and what this makes him think. We have allowed him to ask us questions and have led him to teachings of the prophets regarding this lifestyle. This is not something I ever thought I would have to explain to my child, but I do realize it is important for me to teach him the truths of traditional marriage or the world will teach him lies.

Laws will pass. Society’s values will continue to pull away from God’s commandments. It is our responsibility, as parents, to teach them the truths of the Gospel. It is our duty to stand up for "God's law". It is our duty to teach our children what our truths are regarding traditional marriage. Elder Ballard states "Society, law, and popular opinion may change, but society’s version of the family cannot and will not substitute for God’s purpose and plan for His children." On the day same-sex marriage was legalized in all states, God was forgotten. If those who made this decision had God in their hearts and truly understood the spiritual blessings of marriage, then this decision would not have been a big deal. However, God was forgotten. Once society begins to break away from God, Satan takes control.

Isaiah 5:20 states, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil”. The time has come that good is being called evil. On this day an evil was made good in the eyes of the world. We must stand up for the good. We must stand up for God. We must look out for our children and continue to teach them the truths of God's teaching.

Week 2 Take the Time

“ …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.”

My kids often ask me how they think life will be when they start to have families. Do I think it will be harder to raise a righteous family in the increasingly wicked world? The family is the central unit to God's plan, so therefore we need to know that Satan has it under attack. However, if we understand this and wholeheartedly fight back with God on our side, the family will overcome the evil.

A wife and husband’s role in the family plays such an essential part in making the family a success. “The Proclamation to the Family” teaches of these responsibilities. It says ” Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live.” We, as mothers and fathers, need to take these responsibilities seriously because this is where the fight against Satan comes into play. If we fail to do these things, Satan will wiggle his way in and begin to destroy our families.

The most important things for families to do during this time is to stick together. I believe in the saying, "In a family, Love is spelled TIME". To build strong relationships within the family takes time and effort. Families need to make family time a priority, and then choose righteous uplifting activities to do together. If we begin to lose focus, Satan will slowly begin to weasel his way into our lives and take that time away from us. One example of family time that is being encroached upon is regular family meal time. In the 2007 General Conference talk “­Good, Better, Best”, President Dallin H. Oaks says “The number of those who report that their ‘whole family usually eats dinner together’ has declined by 33 percent.” What is the evil that has begun to take our focus away from the family? It is called overscheduling our lives. President Oaks continues to say, “Among many measures of the disturbing trend of the ‘overscheduling of children’ are the reports that structured sports time has doubled, but children’s free time has declined by 12 hours per week, and unstructured outdoor activities have fallen by 50 percent.” Overscheduling ourselves is sneaky because most people do not consider this an evil because these activities are good. However, there must be a balance. If our lives are so busy, we can’t even eat together then what else is being sacrificed?

It is important for us to make the family a priority in allowing ample time to be together in play activities, as well as gospel centered activities. Studies show that family dinners are more beneficial in building our children mentally, physically, and spiritually. As we make decisions regarding our families, we need to remember what the best choices are. We can’t lose focus because we want our kids to be the best at everything, or because we want to be super moms and dads. We need to stay focused on keeping the family together and providing opportunities to share, bond, and develop eternal relationships.