Preserve and Protect the Family

In Chapter 17, we find the following quote which was given in Howard W. Hunter’s first and only general conference talk as the prophet, “The Church has the responsibility—and the authority—to preserve and protect the family as the foundation of society.” There are two elements to that statement – the authority and the responsibility. The authority is the priesthood of God. With that authority, families are sealed in holy temples – literally preserving and protecting families for eternity. The responsibility to preserve and protect the family is continually fulfilled when prophets and apostles declare and defend the doctrine of eternal families. Here are just a few examples I found as I studied for this lesson.

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints views the family as the most important organization in time and all eternity. The Church teaches that everything should center in and around the family. It stresses that the preservation of family life in time and eternity takes precedence above all other interests.” – Ezra Taft Benson 1

“The family is the most important organization in time or in eternity. Our purpose in life is to create for ourselves eternal family units. There is nothing that will ever come into your family life that is as important as the sealing blessings of the temple and then keeping the covenants made in connection with this order of celestial marriage.” – Joseph Fielding Smith 2

“From the beginning, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has emphasized family life. We have always understood that the foundations of the family, as an eternal unit, were laid even before this earth was created! Society without basic family life is without foundation and will disintegrate into nothingness.” – Spencer W. Kimball 3

“The family is the most important unit in time and in eternity and, as such, transcends every other interest in life.” – Howard W. Hunter 4

“What the restored gospel brings to the discussion on marriage and family is so large and so relevant that it cannot be overstated: we make the subject eternal! We take the commitment and the sanctity of marriage to a greater level because of our belief and understanding that families go back to before this earth was and that they can go forward into eternity. We also believe that strong traditional families are not only the basic units of a stable society, a stable economy, and a stable culture of values—but that they are also the basic units of eternity and of the kingdom and government of God. We want our voice to be heard against all of the counterfeit and alternative lifestyles that try to replace the family organization that God Himself established. We also want our voice to be heard in sustaining the joy and fulfillment that traditional families bring. We must continue to project that voice throughout the world in declaring why marriage and family are so important, why marriage and family really do matter, and why they always will.” – L. Tom Perry 5

“Marriages and families are meant to be eternal. They are the order of heaven. They are an echo of a celestial pattern and an emulation of God’s eternal family. But strong marriage and family relationship do not just happen because we are members of the Church. They require constant, intentional work. The doctrine of eternal families must inspire us to dedicate our best efforts to saving and enriching our marriages and families.” – Dieter F. Uchtdorf 6

Our leaders have also warned us about Satan’s evil tactics designed to destroy the family. If we learn to recognize those tactics, we will be better equipped to preserve and protect our families. Consider these warnings.

“Strong opposition will always come against the work and will of the Lord. Because the work (and glory) of God is to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life as a family, it logically follows that the work of the adversary will strike directly at the heart of the home—the family. Relentlessly Lucifer attacks the sanctity of life and the joy of parenthood. Because the evil one is ever at work, our vigilance cannot be relaxed—not even for a moment.” – Russell M. Nelson 7

“There is no more important stewardship than the responsibility we have for God’s spirit children who come into our families. The family is the main target of evil’s attack and must therefore be the main point of our protection and defense. When evil wants to strike out and disrupt the essence of God’s work, it attacks the family. It does so by attempting to disregard the law of chastity, to confuse gender, to desensitize violence, to make crude and blasphemous language the norm, and to make immoral and deviant behavior seem like the rule rather than the exception.” – M. Russell Ballard 8

We know that Satan will continue his relentless attacks on the family, but we have to remember we’re not in this fight alone! The Lord has promised to bless us and our families as we are obedient to His commandments. President Hunter reminds us, “The responsibilities of parenthood are of the greatest importance. The results of our efforts will have eternal consequences. We simply must have love and integrity and strong principles in our homes. We must have an abiding commitment to marriage and children and morality. We must succeed where success counts most for the next generation. Our homes deserve our most faithful commitments. A child needs parents who are happy in their relationship to each other, who are working happily toward the fulfillment of ideal family living, who love their children with a sincere and unselfish love, and who are committed to the family’s success.” He also encourages us not to be discouraged in our efforts. He said, “If you will diligently work to lead your families in righteousness, encouraging and participating in daily family prayer, scripture reading, family home evening, and love and support for each other in living the teachings of the gospel, you will receive the promised blessings of the Lord in raising a righteous posterity. Home may seem commonplace at times with its routine duties, yet its success should be the greatest of all our pursuits in life.”

My hope is that we can look forward with faith and optimism as we do all that we can to preserve and protect the family. When we do, we are promised heaven’s blessings. Boyd K. Packer gives us this reassurance, “As the world grows ever more threatening, the powers of heaven draw ever closer to families and parents.”9 Similarly, Gordon B. Hinckley taught, “No other experiences of life draw us nearer to heaven than those that exist between happy parents and happy children.”10 Happy doesn’t mean perfect! Happy doesn’t mean we won’t have trials! Happy means we are doing our best to make home, as Marvin J. Ashton once said, “the place in which a person can unburden his soul and find renewed strength to face the world, where there is comfort, joy and understanding, where best friends lives, and where we can learn to be our best selves. Home should be an anchor, a port in a storm, a refuge, a happy place in which to dwell, a place where we are loved and where we can love. Home should be where life’s greatest lessons are taught and learned.”11