Jesus Christ Is the Strength of Parents

{Parents} you are the ones to guide you child in the details of daily decisions.

Just as Jesus Christ is the strength of youth, Jesus Christ is the strength of parents.

Jesus multiplies bread and fish and He can multiply the love in your home.

You can be the most steady, constant influence in your child’s life.

Daily bread is best prepared and served at home.

I invite you to accept God’s offer to guide your family through personal revelation.

Create the best possible conditions for growth.

Jesus Christ is the strength of families. Jesus Christ is the strength of youth. And Jesus Christ is the strength of parents.

Parents, thank you for everything you’re doing to raise your children. And children, thank you for everything you’re doing to raise your parents, because as every parent knows, we often learn as much from our children about faith, hope, and charity as they learn from us!

Could I thank Isaac, even in my mind, for things I have learned from him?

Have you ever thought about the tremendous risk our Father in Heaven takes each time He sends a child to earth? These are His spirit sons and daughters. They have limitless potential. They are destined to become glorious beings of goodness, grace, and truth. And yet they come to earth completely helpless, barely able to do anything besides cry for help. The memory of their time in God’s presence is veiled over, along with the knowledge of who they really are and who they can become. They form their understanding of life, love, God, and His plan based on what they observe from the people around them—especially their parents, who, honestly, are still trying to figure things out for themselves.

My message to all parents is this:

The Lord loves you.

He is with you.

He stands beside you.

He is your strength in guiding your children to make righteous choices.

Accept this privilege and responsibility courageously and joyfully. Don’t delegate this source of heavenly blessings to anyone else. Within the framework of gospel values and principles, you are the ones to guide your child in the details of daily decisions. Help your children build faith in Jesus Christ, love His gospel and His Church, and prepare for a lifetime of righteous choices. In fact, that is God’s plan for parents.

I guess that answers whether I should give up and just encourage the State to take over responsibility for Isaac.

Now, perhaps you feel that your relationship with your child is less than ideal. That’s where the Savior’s power comes in. He heals the sick, and He can heal relationships. He multiplies bread and fish, and He can multiply the love and the joy in your home.

Another strength you have, as a parent, is the opportunity for daily, ongoing influence. Peers, teachers, and media influencers come and go. But you can be the most constant, steady influence in your child’s life.

Your efforts may seem small compared to the loud voices your children hear in the world. At times it may feel that you’re not accomplishing much. But remember that “by small means the Lord can bring about great things.” One home evening, one gospel conversation, or one good example may not change your child’s life in a moment, any more than one drop of rain causes a plant immediately to grow. But the consistency of small and simple things, day after day, nourishes your children much better than an occasional flood.

When a child deliberately rejects your influence it may feel impossible. I guess I’ll eventually see if Isaac’s deliberate rejection can overcome the fact that I was still there daily doing my best even as he insists on seeing things almost the opposite of how they actually are here.

That is the Lord’s way. He speaks to you and your child with a still, small voice, not a voice of thunder. He healed Naaman not through “some great thing” but through the simple, repeated act of washing. The children of Israel enjoyed the feast of quail in the wilderness, but what kept them alive was the small and simple miracle of manna—their daily bread.

Brothers and sisters, daily bread is best prepared and served at home. Faith and testimony are best fostered in normal and natural ways, one bite at a time, in small and simple moments, in the constant flow of daily living.

As you are prayerful and sensitive to the Spirit, He will warn you of hidden dangers. He will reveal your children’s gifts, their strengths, and their unspoken concerns. God will help you see your children as He sees them—beyond their outward appearance and into their hearts.

With God’s help, you can learn to know your children in a pure and heavenly way. I invite you to accept God’s offer to guide your family by personal revelation. Seek His guidance in your prayers.

I NEED that revelation.

In Heavenly Father’s plan, families’ relationships are meant to be eternal. This is why, as a parent, you never give up, even if you are not proud of how things went in the past.

With Jesus Christ, the Master Healer and Savior, there can always be a new beginning; He always gives hope.