“The
divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond
the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it
possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to
be united eternally.”
We all know someone who has gone astray from gospel
principles to follow their own path. We have seen how Satan can win the hearts
of man and lead them away from correct principles to commit sin. Some parents have
felt their heart ache with worry when their child exercises their free agency
to rebel instead of obey. Many would willingly do whatever it took to bring their
child back into the light and insure their safety. Unfortunately, there are
forces beyond control that may pull a child away from the diligent practices
and teachings of their parents.
Our all-knowing Heavenly Father is aware of every
family and their circumstances. He understands the pain and sorrow that comes
from a wayward child. He is the ultimate parent and has seen many of His
children chose a path separate from the perfect one he set forth. Each individual has the power to choose how
to live and parents are no different. God has prepared a way for parents who
strive to keep their covenants to bring salvation to their children through the
power of the sealing ordinance coupled with the Atonement. The prophet Joseph
Smith taught us that “when a seal is put upon the father and mother, it secures
their posterity, so that they cannot be lost, but will be saved by virtue of
the covenant of their father and mother”. Even though a parent cannot force
their children to live a righteous life, as they uphold the covenants they have
made in the temple, their child will not be lost.
Elder Orson F. Whitney said, “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. They have but
strayed in ignorance from the Path of Right, and God is merciful to ignorance.
Only the fullness of knowledge brings the fullness of accountability. Our
Heavenly Father is far more merciful, infinitely more charitable, than even the
best of his servants, and the Everlasting Gospel is mightier in power to save
than our narrow finite minds can comprehend”.
We receive hope through the words of the prophets as
they speak about the saving power of temple covenants. Here are some wonderful
quotes given by some wonderful men:
The Prophet Joseph Smith declared “that the eternal
sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant
service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise
their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd
is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine
Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in
this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their
debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path;
but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and
forgiving father’s heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in
vain. 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”.
President Faust said, “We remember that the prodigal
son wasted his inheritance, and when it was all gone he came back to his
father’s house. There he was welcomed back into the family, but his inheritance
was spent (Luke 15:32). Mercy will not rob justice, and the sealing power of
faithful parents will only claim wayward children upon the condition of their
repentance and Christ’s Atonement. Repentant wayward children will enjoy
salvation and all the blessings that go with it, but exaltation is much more.
It must be fully earned. The question as to who will be exalted must be left to
the Lord in His mercy”.
Joseph Fielding Smith said, “Being heirs [to the
kingdom, through the sealing ordinance] they have claims upon the blessings of
the gospel beyond what those not so born are entitled to receive. They may
receive a greater guidance, to a greater protection, a greater inspiration from
the Spirit of the Lord; and then there is no power that can take them away from
their parents…Those born under the covenant, throughout all eternity, are the
children of their parents. Nothing except the unpardonable sin, or sin unto
death, can break this tie”.
President Boyd K. Packer stated, “Now, sometimes
there are those that are lost. We have the promise of the prophets that they
are not lost permanently, that if they are sealed in the temple ordinances and
if the covenants are kept [by the parents], in due time, after all the
correction that’s necessary to be given, that they will not be lost”.
I know that God understands what each and every
family is presently experiencing. He knows the troubles of our heart and
recognizes our righteous desires. He has given us the infinite and eternal
blessings of the sealing ordinances performed in his holy temples so that our families
can be together forever and return to His presence. I know that as I strive to
live up to the covenants I have made in the temple, He will bless my family. He will bless my home as I strive to rear my
children in righteousness insomuch that they will not forget the blessings and
joy that come from living correct principles. I am so grateful for the temple
sealing which has bonded me to my wonderful spouse and my children. I’m
reminded of the truths that are in the words of this sweet primary song;
“Families can be together forever through Heavenly Father’s plan. I always want
to be with my own family, and the Lord has shown me how I can”. I know that the
sealing ordinances bond the family organization together for time and all
eternity.
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I have made this decoration to hang in my home as a
reminder of when and where my husband and I were sealed together. It reads our
names, the date of our sealing, the temple we were sealed in, and the words “sealed
for all time and eternity”. What a blessing it is to be sealed to my family and
know that as I strive to live up to the covenants I have made in the temple, my
children will find their way home, whether in this life or the life to come.
*This post is all in
reference to Chapter 16 of Successful Marriages and Families: Proclamation
Principles and Research Perspectives, by Alan J. Hawkins, David C. Dollahite,
and Thomas W. Draper (2012).
Additional Resources:
Temple Mirrors of Eternity: A Testimony of Family,
by Gerrit W. Gong
Temple Worship: The Source of Strength and Power in Times of Need
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