Putting God's Kingdom First

Prophet Joseph Smith spoke on the importance of putting God's Kingdom first in our lives to the priesthood brethren. When reading that address that he gape and how he praised the priesthood for their faith and labors in the cause of righteousness and for doing the work of the Lord and using their priesthood for mankind. It made me ponder my genogram graph.

When complying my Genogram graph I have my grandparents on my mom side both members of the church but my grandfather choose other ways of the world to follow and therefore all his 7 children didn't stay active in the church and some weren't even baptized members while living at home. My grandmother is still active in the church she fell away for a while and remarried another man after divorcing my grandfather but her children were effected by their marriage and inactivity in the church. I think on this because home lives do effect the outcome of individuals that live in them. Due to an inactive Priesthood holder the siblings didn't all stay active in the church therefore their children aren't members.

Joseph Smith in his address is simply telling the priesthood holders that it is especially important we put the Lord's Kingdom first. He later tells them as they do this they will seek eternity.

How can we as servants of God seek out our own blessing that come from eternal life from what we know about marriages and God's Plan? How can we receive the blessings of a Temple Marriage and understand what those blessings are and how they can bless ourselves and our prosperity.

Receiving the Priesthood is one step to gaining eternal life a man can achieve  women also can share the blessing in this by preparing themselves and keeping the commandments and serving the church in their divine callings.

Attending the temple regularly and remember our covenants we took ourselves and bringing the spirit we feel at the temple home into our daily lives can bless our marriage and bring peace and comfort into our home life.

When we are actively following God's plan and being obedient our children will see this and want that joy and happiness in their lives. As we teach our children about the Temple and are an example of a happy marriage and one that both spouses love the Lord and serve him and love each other then marriage can be saved and children can grow up in homes that have both parents intact.
I know to be fact that when we put our Savior first in our lives and our marriage that we will be blessed and our children will be blessed and so forth.

Defender of Truth

Often times as a disciple of Christ our job feels huge. We are truly followers of Christ who share his gospel and commandments to those around us. As we share the truth it isn't always accepted as well as we wish it to be. We must as Disciples of Christ and always be that example to the people we interact with each day and not just show up on Sunday and pay our "dues" and attend our weekly meetings. We must be always be ready to defend and stand up for the truth and right as we know and defend the commandments of Christ.  We must stand up to the truthfulness of the Gospel even if the laws of the land have swayed a different way to include equal rights to those who choose to marry the same sex.

The truth I will be discussing today is the marriage to be between a man and woman. God's plan is just that. To be chaste until marriage and then after marriage to have fidelity with your spouse and to multiply and replenish the earth. A man and woman are need to have children. We cannot change true doctrine. It has been written and we must bare witness of this truth. It is my responsibility to do that, and yours.

As a disciple of Christ I daily share my testimony of marriage. Not just sharing my beliefs on the Temple Marriage I have with my husband but my beliefs that marriage should be just between a man and a woman. I understand that as an American citizen have the right to be married to that of the same sex however, Christ's doctrine didn't change. His church was established and his word never changes.

As a member of the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I have a testimony of a living prophet and with that testimony comes sustaining them and follow their counsel. In 1995 the first presidency came out with the Family Proclamation and it states :

“We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children. . . .The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity."

 

With this knowledge and revelation from the prophet I can be a true disciple of Christ daily and defend his doctrine of marriage between a man and woman. I can do this by keeping the commandments and doing what I have promised to do when I was baptized a member of His church.

 

In It For The kids?

When you look at a married couple do you ever wonder if they are truly still in love? Has their love for one another changed over the years of marriage? Have they fallen in and out of love for one another, or are they still happily in love and fall more and more for their spouse each day?

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As for me being married for almost 12 years I can testify that it isn't always rainbows and butterflies but I can promise that because the love my husband and I have for each other we make it through each day and promise to be better tomorrow at showing our love and support for one another. We do this for our children. It is important to us that our children see us as not only a loving mother and father to each of them but a loving husband and wife to one another.

Many may not be aware that children are effected by their parents marriage. They can feel the tension when it arises they can hear the words exchanged and they can see when one is avoiding the other. On the flip side they also can see the kisses exchanged, the hand being lifted to help in house hold duties, and the intimacy that should be present in marriage daily.

 Raising children in a two parent home shows that the children have a higher standard of living, receive more effective parenting, and experience more parenting done by both parents. These children being raised by both their parents in the same home also are emotionally closer to both their mom and dad and are subjected to less stressful events in their lives. On the opposite side of this children in a divorced family tend to have weaker emotional bonds with mothers and fathers than do their peers in a two-parent family. When both parents are present in a child's life they have that love and support they need to learn and grow.

When self evaluating your own personal marriage do you stay in it for the kids? Are you avoiding divorce because you don't want your children to suffer the stresses that come from being a child of divorced parents. Do we want that for our kids? Do we want our kids to see us struggling and not happy or do we want our children to see us as someone who faces our fears and better our lives by getting out of a marriage that isn't healthy. It's a tough question. You won't know till you are in the situation, you can only know facts. If you stay married for the kids be the example of commitment and love you want them to go forth in life and have in their marriage. Change the odds. Allow them to see what marriage should be. Children are our future and they need stable and secure places to live and grow emotionally and socially.


(photos credit to @Columbia pictures and www.aproverbswife.com)