Author: Nurture Mama

“God’s love is so perfect that He lovingly requires us to obey His commandments because He knows that only through obedience to His laws can we become perfect, as He is. For this reason, God’s anger and His wrath are not a contradiction of His love but an evidence of His love. Every parent knows that you can love a child totally and completely while still being creatively angry and disappointed at that child’s self-defeating behavior.

Where do parents draw the line? That is a matter for parental wisdom, guided by the inspiration of the Lord. There is no area of parental action that is more needful of heavenly guidance or more likely to receive it than the decisions of parents in raising their children and governing their families. This is the work of eternity.”

Dallin H. Oaks, “Love and Law,” Ensign, Nov 2009, 26–29

“Sisters, I wish I could place my hands on both sides of your faces, look deeply into your eyes, and impart to you a clear vision of your vital role as beloved daughters of God whose “lives have meaning, purpose, and direction.” We are women who “increase our testimonies of Jesus Christ through prayer and scripture study,” who “seek spiritual strength by following the promptings of the Holy Ghost.” We “dedicate ourselves to strengthening marriages, families, and homes” and “find nobility in motherhood and joy in womanhood.”

Mary Ellen W. Smoot, “Steadfast and Immovable,” Ensign, Nov 2001, 91

In the family proclamation we also learn that “by divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.”

It is in the home that the family learns and applies gospel principles. Great love is necessary in order to teach and guide a family. Loving fathers and mothers will teach their children to worship God in their home. When a worshiping spirit permeates the home, that spirit is extended into the life of each family member. This will prepare them to make whatever sacrifice is necessary to be able to return to God’s presence and stay together as a family for all eternity.

The family proclamation helps us understand much of the love the Savior referred to when He told us we must “love one another.” He gave us the supreme example of love when He declared, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” He later atoned for all our sins and finally gave His life for all of us.

We can lay down our lives for those we love not by physically dying for them but rather by living for them—giving of our time; always being present in their lives; serving them; being courteous, affectionate, and showing true love for those of our family and to all men—as the Savior taught.

We don’t know what could happen to us tomorrow, and that is why today is the time to start showing your love through small acts such as a hug and an “I love you” to your spouse and children and those around you.

Claudio R. M. Costa, “Don’t Leave for Tomorrow What You Can Do Today,” Ensign, Nov 2007, 73–75

In his last public address to the Church before his death, President Hunter offered 22 ways that we might follow the example of the Savior in giving the best gifts at Christmas.

1) Mend a quarrel.
2) Seek out a forgotten friend.
3) Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust.
4) Write a letter.
5) Give a soft answer.
6) Encourage youth.
7) Manifest your loyalty in word and deed.
8) Keep a promise.
9) Forgo a grudge.
10) Forgive an enemy.
11) Apologize.
12) Try to understand..
13) Examine your demands on others.
14) Think first of someone else.
15) Be kind.
16) Be gentle.
17) Laugh a little more.
18) Express your gratitude.
19) Welcome a stranger.
20) Gladden the heart of a child.
21) Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth.
22) Speak your love and then speak it again.

Howard W. Hunter, “The Gifts of Christmas,” Ensign, Dec 2002, 16

“When the real history of mankind is fully disclosed, will it feature the echoes of gunfire or the shaping sound of lullabies? The great armistices made by military men or the peacemaking of women in homes and in neighborhoods? Will what happened in cradles and kitchens prove to be more controlling than what happened in congresses? When the surf of the centuries has made the great pyramids so much sand, the everlasting family will still be standing, because it is a celestial institution, formed outside telestial time. The women of God know this.

“No wonder the men of God support and sustain you sisters in your unique roles, for the act of deserting home in order to shape society is like thoughtlessly removing crucial fingers from an imperiled dike in order to teach people to swim.”

Neal A. Maxwell, “The Women of God,” Ensign, May 1978, 10