Temple Covenants: A Saving Factor

It is normal to feel guilt, shame, hopeless, and many other negative emotions when you have a wayward child. You feel like you have done everything you could have done for them, and they chose their agency to walk another way.

First off, just continue to love them. Don't allow them to see those negative emotions if you are feeling them. That can only make the situation worse.

I chose to include teachings from prophets and apostles that have a really promising message to parents who have children who might not be making the best decisions.

Joseph Smith taught that the eternal sealing 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 the 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 disobedience children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God.

Elder Whitney says "when a seal (the everlasting covenant) is put upon the father and mother, it secures their posterity, so they cannot be lost, but will be saved by virtue of the covenant of their father and mother."

I think we all know friends or family members that have fallen away from the church, and it can cause a rift in relationships. But please don't let it. I know from experience that it is more important to love our family than to make them feel unloved because of their differing life choices. It is not our job to judge. It is our job to love one another. I am so grateful to have been sealed in the temple to give my children an extra buffer of protection throughout their lives. I was so happy to read more this week about the blessings that come with the temple sealing. 

"Being heirs, they have claim upon the blessings of the gospel beyond what those not so born are entitled to receive. They may receive a greater guidance, 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."

    -Joseph Fielding Smith