Love Over Punishment

                                                   Love Over Punishment

God trusted you your children, as well as, He loved them before you even knew about it. Here is how Orson Whitney (1929) explained about God’s love for his children, “The Shepherd will find his sheep. They were his before they were yours – long before he entrusted them to your care; and you cannot begin to love them as he loves them” (p. 110).  

Isn’t it amazing to know that no matter what your child has done, there is a way to come back?

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/image/prodigal-son-a2bbb57?lang=eng&collectionId=77f8e158281f42f59a75f5c6661ef007

 Children deserve their parents to embrace them as they turn back into their arms with sorrow and regret at heart. There is always room for repentance that God gives his children. Why? Because his love is unconditional. His love is enough for all the wayward children to get back to Him. He feels the pain that parents feel. Every family goes through heartache when their children go astray. However, those families who have made the eternal bond at a temple, have the right to save their children from eternal loss. 

 

Orson Whitney states, “Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God” (1923, p.110). The hope that you will receive your children back after they have wandered from the right path is real. He ensures that every child has that chance. Parents should put their trust in Him. Those who make eternal covenants, as a family, will not be lost.

 

Another important thing I want to emphasize is the difference between the sin and the sinner (. The sin should be viewed as wrong, but the sinner needs to be loved. Love changes behaviour, whereas criticism does not. The prodigal son’s story is a vivid example to all of us how we should treat our children, and some others as well, when they turn from their wrong and seek understanding from others. Make sure your children know exactly where they can turn after regret, as well as that you will always embrace them as they come back into your arms. Now, this does not mean that parents should not try to correct the wrong choices of their children. That is not the point I am making here. What really matters is that children know 100% that their parents love and accept them no matter what has happened.

 

How do you balance correcting practices and expressing love for your children?

 

Whitney, O. F. (1929). Ninety-ninth Semi-Annual Gen-eral Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (p. 110). Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1897–1964.

Hawkins, A. J., Dollahite, D. C., & Draper, T. (2016). They Cannot Be Lost: Temple Covenants Save Families. In Successful marriages and families: Proclamation principles and research perspectives (pp. 28-34). Provo, UT: BYU Studies and School of Family Life, Brigham Young University.