I have been continuing to read Brad Wilcox's book, "Changed Through His Grace", and today I have been thinking about a section I read this morning. Much of what I put down here will be a summation of ideas he shared.
So he talks about counseling with a single mother who was struggling to rear her children in the gospel after her husband left activity in the church and divorced her. She said tearfully that it was so difficult to be the "bad guy" who enforced bedtimes, stressed nutrition, and required church attendance, while her ex-husband did the opposite. On the weekends the children were with him, he let them stay up late and eat whatever they wanted, and he took them to amusement parks instead of to church.
He assured her that she was doing the right thing, (keeping the rules so to speak), even though it was hard. Just two weeks later this mother sent him a note which her oldest daughter had written to her: "Dear Mom, Thanks for being our mom. Dad is just trying to be our buddy. He is trying to win us over by spending money on us, but I am old enough to see what is going on and I appreciate you for expecting us to make something of our lives. Maybe the little kids don't get it yet, but I do. The parent with the rules is the one who really cares."
I would extend that last sentence to read: The parent with the rules is the one who really cares, and that includes our Heavenly Father.
God does not give us commandments or rules, if you will, in order to make us miserable or in order to exert some form of power over us. He loves us and He knows that following those rules will bring the greatest happiness into our lives. He doesn't want us to waste our time and opportunities to grow. He sends His grace to help us see the bigger picture.
The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount actually made it through the Apostasy and the Dark Ages; it was the reasons to keep the commandments and live the lessons taught in the sermon that were lost. Those reasons are found within the plan of redemption. They have to do with changing internal desires as well as external behavior, altering the way we live in private as well as in public. Such changes come only through God's grace. As we covenant to live the gospel, we invite a greater abundance of God's power into our lives.
This is why it is important for us to stand up for what is right. This is why we should keep God's rules and the moral rules of society. This is why we should act in a God-like manor, not as a means of having 'fire insurance' to keep us from going to Hell, but because we love Him and want to be like Him, and because we want to teach the world a way to live lives of peace and harmony and service.
So he talks about counseling with a single mother who was struggling to rear her children in the gospel after her husband left activity in the church and divorced her. She said tearfully that it was so difficult to be the "bad guy" who enforced bedtimes, stressed nutrition, and required church attendance, while her ex-husband did the opposite. On the weekends the children were with him, he let them stay up late and eat whatever they wanted, and he took them to amusement parks instead of to church.
He assured her that she was doing the right thing, (keeping the rules so to speak), even though it was hard. Just two weeks later this mother sent him a note which her oldest daughter had written to her: "Dear Mom, Thanks for being our mom. Dad is just trying to be our buddy. He is trying to win us over by spending money on us, but I am old enough to see what is going on and I appreciate you for expecting us to make something of our lives. Maybe the little kids don't get it yet, but I do. The parent with the rules is the one who really cares."
I would extend that last sentence to read: The parent with the rules is the one who really cares, and that includes our Heavenly Father.
God does not give us commandments or rules, if you will, in order to make us miserable or in order to exert some form of power over us. He loves us and He knows that following those rules will bring the greatest happiness into our lives. He doesn't want us to waste our time and opportunities to grow. He sends His grace to help us see the bigger picture.
The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount actually made it through the Apostasy and the Dark Ages; it was the reasons to keep the commandments and live the lessons taught in the sermon that were lost. Those reasons are found within the plan of redemption. They have to do with changing internal desires as well as external behavior, altering the way we live in private as well as in public. Such changes come only through God's grace. As we covenant to live the gospel, we invite a greater abundance of God's power into our lives.
This is why it is important for us to stand up for what is right. This is why we should keep God's rules and the moral rules of society. This is why we should act in a God-like manor, not as a means of having 'fire insurance' to keep us from going to Hell, but because we love Him and want to be like Him, and because we want to teach the world a way to live lives of peace and harmony and service.
