Remaining Faithful in Perilous Times Lesson 3


"The greatest guardians of any and all virtues are marriage and family."

Living in "Perilous Times"
In the New Testament Paul teaches, "in the last days perilous times shall come." What does this mean for the world we live in. If you think about how the world has changed dramatically in many aspects over the past 50 years Paul's words hold true. 
"Men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
I think we can agree that we have seen these things begin to infiltrate the world around us. In my own life I have seen how Paul’s words have destroyed relationships and produced hardships in family lives. Elder Cecil O. Samuelson Jr. said in a talk, "While we may have differences in what constitutes special peril for us individually, we share much that establishes the apt description of “perilous times” for all.”
For my own family I realize there are time in my marriage when a lack of maintaining our spiritual lives and the small simple activities such as prayer, scriptures and family home evening have led to peril in our lives. If we want to avoid such things we need to remember to strengthen our families and marriages.

Remaining faithful and Being Blessed
As we ask ourselves if we are prepared for the challenges that lie ahead with such "perilous times" we can find comfort in remaining on the righteous and covenant path.  As the world changes we are not to bend and follow the way the political winds blow.  "As you are true and faithful, not only will He help you and protect you, He will bless your families." Ultimately this is what we all want. We want strong families and good marriages. As we follow the council of church leaders, we can find peace in our homes. I know in my family we have been blessed with greater knowledge and a bond that draws us together as we remain faithful to marriage and family.
I think Elder Nelson said it best in his address, "
God is the Father of all men and women. They are His children. It was He who ordained marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Marriage was not created by human judges or legislators. It was not created by think tanks or by popular vote or by oft-quoted bloggers or by pundits. It was not created by lobbyists. Marriage was created by God!" We are children of God we were his first and he will support us in difficult times and bless our homes as we try to live the commandments and remain faithful.


https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/russell-m-nelson_disciples-jesus-christ-defenders-of-marriage/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2004/10/perilous-times?lang=eng (Links to an external site.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Covenant or Contract Marriage? Lesson 4

Wolves of Society In most religions today Jesus Christ is known as the "Good Shepherd," watching over us as his flock. It is fitting that we can easily pin the adversary as the wolves who are trying to prey on the innocent in our flock. In a talk given by Elder Bruce C. Hafen of the Seventy he mentions three different types of wolves that are apparent in marriages. They are the wolf of natural adversity, the wolf of their own imperfections, and the wolf of excessive individualism. The interesting thing to note is that this talk was given in 1996, but we can see the application of these principles continue to plague marriages even more than twenty years later.  The article really points out the difference between a covenant marriage and a contract marriage. We all know people around us who readily accept contract marriages and think it is not a big deal to separate. However, when we look at the problems in society today, we can usually link it back to families and where ...
Read more

Managing Conflict Lesson 9

When I read Elder Lynn G. Robbins talk titled “Agency and Anger” from the 1998 General Conference there were three different quotes that stood out to me. Stirring  Up Contention He damages and often destroys families within the walls of their own homes. His strategy is to stir up  anger  between family members. Satan is the “father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with  anger,  one with another” (3 Ne. 11:29). The verb  stir  sounds like a recipe for disaster: Put tempers on medium heat, stir in a few choice words, and bring to a boil; continue stirring until thick; cool off; let feelings chill for several days; serve cold; lots of leftovers. Satan will try anything to destroy families. He knows their role and the importance they are to Heavenly Father. Families are eternal and Satan has given up the right to have that and so he doesn’t want anyone else to have it either. So often I have let little problems become b...
Read more

Being United Lesson 12

Unity in the Gospel In our desire to be united as couples, families and saints we can turn to the Lord for direction. We can learn the importance and skills necessary from gospel principles. In a talk by Henry B. Eyring titled, "That We May Be One" he tells about different ways that we can learn and train ourselves in being united. He teaches us that by living close to the Spirit and being worthy of it helps us to be united with the Lord and be one in purpose. We find this throughout the gospel, in so many cases we are united in purpose. Elder Eyring also gave a warning against pride which is an easy destroyer of unity. When we let the small prideful things get in the way we might be left with hurt and disappoint. Elder Eyring said, “ A unity which comes to a family or to a people softened by the Spirit will bring great power. With that power will come recognition from the world. Whether that recognition brings praise or envy, it could lead us to pride. That would offend...
Read more