The Responsibility to Teach our Children

When Lehi was near the end of his mortal life, he brought his children and grandchildren together to give them a blessing. Of particular interest is the blessing he imparted on Laman and Lemuel’s children.

In 2 Nephi 4: 5 – 6 Lehi tells his grandchildren, “But behold, my sons and my daughters, I cannot go down to my grave save I should leave a blessing upon you; for behold, I know that if ye are brought up in the way ye should go ye will not depart from it.

 Wherefore, if ye are cursed, behold, I leave my blessing upon you, that the cursing may be taken from you and be answered upon the heads of your parents.

That last sentence uttered by Lehi should cause any parent to sit up in their chair and pay attention!

D&C 68: 25 & 28 goes on to teach, “And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents. And they shall also teach their children to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.”

These scriptures are poignant and direct with implication.

I took this short Facebook story from a good friend of ours who’s not LDS (Cece Thorne):

“I was reminded today why, as a Mama, I'm so privileged to get to do what I do. In the van coming home from Walmart Michael says, "Mama, I saw a lady in Walmart that didn't have an arm". I told Michael that I saw her too. Then he asks "Can we pray for her?" **sigh...be still my heart** I said of course, and he prayed that God would allow her to be able to do what she needs to do each day. All I can say is, whom ever gets my little mister one day is one fortunate girl!!”

Are we teaching our children to pray and think of others like young Michael in this story?

Reading these scriptures and story causes me to ask myself a few additional questions:

1. What am I teaching my children?
2. Are we teaching them to look to the Lord, to pray, and to study from the scriptures?
3. Am I teaching by example and action or simply by word alone?
4. Do we pray and read together daily as a family?

It’s my hope that in this chaotic and fast world, we don’t forget the grand call of our raising our children in righteousness. The Lord has entrusted parents with a stewardship and commended them with a sacred responsibility.