Principles for teaching the gospel at home
- Teach freely
- Model discipleship
- Invite to act
Accidental conversion isn’t part of the plan of salvation.
Families deserve guidance from heaven. Parents cannot counsel children adequately from personal experience, fear, or sympathy. — Russell M. Nelson
It is easy to think that personal experience coupled with sympathy would be enough.
Adopting the gospel culture in our families is critical to creating a fertile environment where the seed of faith may flourish.
Our gospel culture was wiped out as we tried to navigate Laura’s mental health issues.
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.
We can reestablish a gospel culture but we are fighting against the momentum of children who openly oppose the church and boldly disregard our counsel thinking that they already know everything of value.
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.
For some time we were less than consistent about attending church while the kids were young and Laura was at her worst. That set the stage for COVID to further sever any habit of church attendance (despite me providing the sacrament each week). Now Laura and I have been consistent for years but the kids are all inactive.
We cannot wait for conversion to simply happen to our children. Accidental conversion is not a principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ. — Joy D. Jones
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