"Divine Parenting Lessons" Talk Outline

Last updated on March 28th, 2024 at 01:58 pm

General Conference Applied

“Divine Parenting Lessons” by Elder Valeri V. Cordón; October 2023 General Conference

Corresponding General Conference Applied episode show notes: S2 E24

Talk Outline

Invitations

“Parents enter a partnership with their Heavenly Father to guide their precious children back to heaven.”

Directives (“an official or authoritative instruction”)

“We must climb to the higher ground of gospel culture with our families. President Russell M. Nelson declared: ‘Families deserve guidance from heaven. Parents cannot counsel children adequately from personal experience, fear, or sympathy.’ … President Dallin H. Oaks described gospel culture as ‘a distinctive way of life, a set of values and expectations and practices. … This gospel culture comes from the plan of salvation, the commandments of God, and the teachings of … living prophets. It guides us in the way we raise our families and live our individual lives.’ … To climb to higher ground, President Oaks invited us ‘to give up any personal or family traditions or practices that are contrary to the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ.’ Parents, timidity on our part to establish gospel culture may allow the adversary to establish a foothold in our homes or, even worse, in the hearts of our children.”
“Make Home the Center of Gospel Learning. … Let’s consider three crucial parenting responsibilities described by prophets and apostles that can help us establish a higher gospel culture in our homes. …
- “First: Teach Freely. … We teach our children generously when we spend meaningful time with them. We teach without restraint when discussing sensitive topics such as screen time, using resources that the Church has made available. We teach liberally when we study the scriptures with our children using Come, Follow Me and allow the Spirit to be the teacher. …
- “Second: Model Discipleship. … Parents, what do we need to model for our children? Discipleship. As parents, we can teach the importance of putting God first when we discuss the first commandment, but we model it when we set aside worldly distractions and keep the Sabbath day holy every week. We can teach the importance of temple covenants when we speak about the doctrine of celestial marriage, but we model it when we honor our covenants, treating our spouse with dignity. …
- “Third: Invite to Act. … To assist our children with the building of their testimonies, we encourage them to use their agency to choose what is right and prepare them for a lifetime on God’s covenant path. It would be wise to encourage each of our children to accept President Nelson’s invitation to take charge of his or her own testimony of Jesus Christ and His gospel—to work for it, to nurture it so that it will grow, to feed it truth, and to not pollute it with false philosophies of unbelieving men and women. … We must do everything we can to create an environment where our children can feel His divine influence.”

Promises

“As we choose to make the gospel culture the predominant culture in our family, then by the powerful influence of the Holy Ghost, our current parenting styles, traditions, and practices will be sifted, aligned, refined, and enhanced.”
“As we partner with God through covenants and become His agents in the care of our children, He will sanctify our intentions, inspire our teachings, and temper our invitations so ‘our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.'”

Doctrines

Marriage and Family: “Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God, and the family is central to His plan of salvation and to happiness (see Genesis 2:24). Parents are to multiply and replenish the earth, to rear their children in love and righteousness, and to provide for their physical and spiritual needs. Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, such as faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. (See ‘The Family: A Proclamation to the World.’)”

Principles

Family Responsibilities: “In the sacred responsibilities of parenthood, “fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102). They should work together to provide for the spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and physical needs of the family. … One of the best ways parents can teach their children is by example. Husbands and wives should show love and respect for each other and for their children by both actions and words. It is important to remember that each member of the family is a child of God. Parents should treat their children with love and respect, being firm but kind to them. Parents should understand that sometimes children will make wrong choices even after they have been taught the truth. When this happens, parents should not give up. They should continue to teach their children, to express love for them, to be good examples to them, and to fast and pray for them.”

Christlike Attributes

Patience: “When you are patient, you look at life from an eternal perspective. You do not expect immediate blessings or outcomes. Your righteous desires will usually be realized ‘line upon line, … here a little and there a little’ (2 Nephi 28:30). … Develop patience with others, including your companion and those you serve. Be patient with yourself as well. Strive for the best within yourself while realizing that you will grow step-by-step. As with other Christlike attributes, growing in patience is a lifelong process. Exercising patience can have a healing influence on your soul and on those around you.”

Attribute Activity

“I wait patiently for the blessings and promises of the Lord to be fulfilled. (2 Nephi 10:17)”
“I am able to wait for things without getting upset or frustrated. (Romans 8:25)”
“I am patient with the challenges of being a missionary. (Alma 17:11)”
“I am patient with others. (Romans 15:1)”
“I am patient with myself and rely on the Lord as I work to overcome my weaknesses. (Ether 12:27)”
“I face adversity with patience and faith. (Alma 34:40–41)”

Most Important Quote

“Although our cultural backgrounds, parenting styles, and personal experiences may be valuable for parenting, these abilities are insufficient to help our children return to heaven. We need access to a more elevated ‘set of values and … practices,’ a culture of both love and expectations, where we interact with our children ‘in a higher, holier way.’ President Dallin H. Oaks described gospel culture as ‘a distinctive way of life, a set of values and expectations and practices. … This gospel culture comes from the plan of salvation, the commandments of God, and the teachings of … living prophets. It guides us in the way we raise our families and live our individual lives.’

“Jesus Christ is the center of this gospel culture. Adopting the gospel culture in our families is critical to creating a fertile environment where the seed of faith may flourish. To climb to higher ground, President Oaks invited us ‘to give up any personal or family traditions or practices that are contrary to the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ.’ Parents, timidity on our part to establish gospel culture may allow the adversary to establish a foothold in our homes or, even worse, in the hearts of our children.

“As we choose to make the gospel culture the predominant culture in our family, then by the powerful influence of the Holy Ghost, our current parenting styles, traditions, and practices will be sifted, aligned, refined, and enhanced.”

Powerful Stories

“Heavenly Father never intended for us as parents to sit on the sidelines as spectators, watching the spiritual lives of our children unfold. Let me illustrate this idea of intentional parenting with a personal experience. When I was attending Primary in a small branch in Guatemala, my parents began to teach me about the value of patriarchal blessings. My mother took the time to share her experience of receiving her treasured patriarchal blessing. She taught me the doctrine related to patriarchal blessings, and she testified of promised blessings. Her intentional parenting inspired me to have the desire to receive my patriarchal blessing.

“When I was 12, my parents helped me navigate the search for a patriarch. This was necessary because there was no patriarch in the district where we lived. I traveled to a patriarch that was in a stake 156 kilometers (97 miles) away. I distinctly remember when the patriarch laid his hands upon my head to bless me. I knew by powerful spiritual confirmation, without a doubt, that my Heavenly Father knew me.

“For a 12-year-old boy from a small town, that meant everything to me. My heart turned to my Heavenly Father that day because of my mother and father’s intentional parenting, and I will be forever grateful to them.”

The Best Footnote

Footnote 18: “See Dale G. Renlund, ‘Choose You This Day,’ Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 104: ‘Our Heavenly Father’s goal in parenting is not to have His children do what is right; it is to have His children choose to do what is right and ultimately become like Him.””

Questions for Reflection Asked by the Speaker

None.

Additional Content

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“Divine Parenting Lessons” Talk Outline