What is in Our Home?

What is in Our Home?

“Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.”

-The Family: A Proclamation to the World (Link to Proclamation) 

“If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.”

Articles of Faith 1:13

Opening Song: Choose The Right (hymn 239)

Read the Entertainment and Media section in “For the Strength of Youth” and each person write down things that stick out to you. (Entertainment and Media )

• Have others share their thoughts
• “Whatever you read, listen to, or look at has an effect on you.” we can’t just think that things aren’t affecting us or that we are “immune” to them.
• “Satan uses media to deceive you by making what is wrong and evil look normal, humorous, or exciting.” He is good at what he does. We can see Satan’s work in advertisements on TV for alcohol and other things that would harm our Spirits.
• “Have the courage to walk out of a movie, change your music, or turn off a computer, television, or mobile device if what you see or hear drives away the Spirit.” We have the Spirit with us to help protect us from the world. If we put ourselves in situations where the Spirit can’t reside, we are letting ourselves become vulnerable and subject to Satan.
• “Take care that your use of media does not dull your sensitivity to the Spirit or interfere with your personal relationships with others… Be careful that your use of social media does not replace spending time with your family and friends.” While the media can be good and useful to us, it can also be overused and harm our personal relationships. Keeping in touch with people through the internet or texting can be good, but spending time with your family is better.

What are some things we can do as a family to make sure the entertainment in our home is uplifting? (make a list)

·         Suggestions:

o   Look at video games and movies you own- get rid of those that don’t invite the Spirit

o   Discuss time limits on the internet and other entertainment

o   Talk about ways the family can spend more quality time together without the need for technology/media

o   Talk about internet safety- make sure kids know how to be safe online and on their phones

Personal Experience:

In my family, we discussed what we could do better in our lives to keep the things that don't invite the Spirit out of our home. We decided to go through our video games and get rid of the ones that are not uplifting. We had a few that had an M rating for violence. We decided we didn't want that in our home, especially with our children being exposed to it. It felt nice to rid ourselves of those games, and we have found that we really don't miss them at all. They weren't making us better, and they were actually harming the Spirit in our home.

Read and discuss Elder Bednar’s fireside talk, “Things as They Really Are” June 2010

And/or watch this video 

Closing Song: Let the Holy Spirit Guide (hymn 143)

Forgiveness in our Families

Forgiveness in Families

“Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.”

-The Family: A Proclamation to the World (Link to the Proclamation) 

Opening Song: Help Me, Dear Father (Children’s Songbook) 

Who has ever been offended? How did you feel in that situation?

Have you ever forgiven someone? How did that feel?

Doesn’t it feel better to forgive than to hold onto things that have offended us? 

Scriptures on Forgiveness:

•  D&C 64:10- we are commanded to forgive others
• Moroni 6:8- God forgives us as often as we need. To forgive others is divine. 
•  D&C 89:39-40- we should forgive our enemies. Whether or not they come asking for our forgiveness.

How Do We Forgive? (taken from “Successful Marriages and Families" by Hawkins, Dollahite, and Draper)

1.       Recall the hurt- Sometimes we try to just forget, but to forgive we have to be clear about the wrongdoing.

2.       Empathize- We need to understand the offender’s feelings to forgive.

3.       Offer the altruistic gift of forgiveness- This is easier when you are humble and aware of your own shortcomings.

4.       Commit publicly to forgive- Making the forgiveness formal by telling someone about it gives you a better chance of really forgiving.

5.       Hold on to forgiveness- Move forward. Don’t dwell on the offense but remember you have chosen to forgive. 

More Thoughts on Forgiveness

• “To forgive is good, but to forgo -- to not take offense in the first place such that we need to forgive something -- is better, higher, and holier.”- Bonds That Make Us Free

•  Forgoing is not only better, but easier! Make your life easier and choose not to be offended.

•  “It ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else.” –Elder Bednar (And Nothing Shall Offend Them) 

• Prayer helps to heal relationships. Pray and ask Heavenly Father to help you forgive and to restore harmony to your relationships.

·         Additional readings on forgiveness

o   Forgiveness talk by Gordon B. Hinckley October 2005

o   DivineForgiveness talk by Ronald E. Poelman October 1993

o   Peace ofConscience and Peace of Mind talk by Richard G. Scott October 2004

o   AndNothing Shall Offend Them talk by David A. Bednar October 2006

Watch this video on forgiveness:

Closing Song: “Love One Another” (Children’s Songbook)