(remember I am using the "language of faith" meaning I am wording the counsel and teaching "as if" I already believe or am already doing it. All bold type is my insertion.)
- Marriage is more than love for each other...we are a link in the chain of the generations.
- Love comes from us, but marriage from God above.
- Marriage is a status, an office, where I am placed at a post of responsibility towards the world and mankind.
- I existed first as an intelligence and was given a spirit body by God, becoming the spirit child of heavenly parents.
- Heavenly Father prepared an enabling plan so I could have the privilege to advance like himself.
- The two principal purposes of this "plan of happiness" are:
- to prove that I will do all that God commands
- to gain a physical body so that I can obtain the fullness of being and glory that God enjoys.
- I choose to do all things God commands to demonstrate my commitment and capacity to live God's celestial law while outside His presence and in my physical body with all its powers, appetites, and passions.
- I bridle my flesh so it is my instrument, not my master
- I can be trusted now and in eternity with godly powers, including power to create life.
- I can overcome evil
- I will receive a resurrected, immortal, and glorified physical body.
- To succeed in this divine plan:
- the earth was created for me to dwell on
- Adam and Eve fell, creating the conditions needed for my physical birth and for mortal experience and learning outside the presence of God.
- I am aware of good and evil and my God-given power to choose
- I know my time in mortality is temporary so that I will not live forever in my sins
- Jesus Christ suffered and died to atone for Adam and Eve's transgression, thereby providing resurrection and immortality for all; and to redeem me from my own sins on condition of my repentance.
- I access the Savior's atoning grace for forgiveness for my sins and the sanctification of my soul
- I am born again and reconciled to God so I can live with Him again.
- God ordained I should marry and give birth to children, creating physical bodies for them in partnership with God.
- My body is key to my test of mortality and is essential to my eternal glory with Him.
- God ordained that I should establish a family and rear my children in light and truth, leading them to a hope in Christ.
- I teach them they must be born again of water and the Spirit and be cleansed by the blood of Christ that they may be sanctified from all sin and enjoy eternal life in this world and in the world to come.
- Nothing relative to my time on earth is more important than my physical birth and spiritual rebirth - they are both required for eternal life. THIS is the "office" and "post of responsibility towards mankind" of marriage that links generations.
- My family is the best setting for God's plan to thrive
- A critical mass of families built on such marriages is vital for societies to survive and flourish. This is why I strive to protect the institution of marriage.
- We have been warned that "the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets." This is also why I strive to protect the institution of marriage.
- No mortal can alter this divine order of matrimony. It is not a human invention.
- I do not fall prey to Lucifer's attack on the family
- I encourage marriage and the formation of families
- I hold human sexuality as sacred and am free from immoral thoughts and actions
- I do not ignore or abandon my marriage or my family priorities in favor of career, other achievements, self-fulfillment or individual autonomy.
- I teach and train my children to have faith in Christ and to be spiritually born again.
- I choose the essential over the good.
- I do not overlook or diminish the sacrifices and success of those for whom the ideal is not a present reality.
- I recognize my gifts and talents and the gifts and talents of others in the unfolding of the divine plan in my generation.
- I can achieve much that is good, much that is essential, even all that is necessary for now, in less than ideal circumstances.
- I am doing my very best.
- I stand up in defense of God's plan to exalt His children and am ready to march.
- I testify that the Atonement of Jesus Christ has anticipated and, in the end, will compensate all deprivation and loss for those who turn to Him.
- I want to please God and honor His trust.
- I pray to be buoyed up with God's love and for the witness of His approval as I go about His work.
- I pray that my marriage may flourish and my family prosper and that the Lord's grace may bring happiness now and faith in sure promises to come.
Conference challenge:
Pray:
- To be buoyed up with God’s love
- For a witness of His approval as I go about His work
- That my marriage may flourish and my family prosper
- That the Lord’s grace may bring me happiness now and faith in sure promises to come
Do:
- Honor the office of marriage; protect, encourage and defend it
- Strive to do my very best to do ALL that God commands and live the celestial law now
- Bridle my flesh – it is key to my test in mortality
- Be aware of my power to choose good over evil; choose the essential over the good
- Access the Savior’s grace for forgiveness and sanctification
- Make it a priority to be born again and reconciled to God
- Create an environment of light and truth and lead my children to a hope in Christ
- Prepare for the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets
- Recognize the gifts and talents in myself and others for the unfolding of the divine plan in my generation
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