Thought:
All human beings--male and female--are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.
In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshiped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. 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. (The Family: A Proclamation to the World)
Object Lesson:
Have a bowl filled with various things to eat. There should be a variety of both treats and non-treats. Then have each family member take a turn being blindfolded and then choose something out of the bowl. The first thing they touch is what they get. After each person has had a turn ask them if they are happy with what they chose. Discuss that our choice was to take something from the bowl, but we had no control over the consequence. Some may have chosen something that they enjoy while others may have chosen something that they don't like. Point out that while we may get what we want without looking, the chances of satisfaction are much greater when we can see the choices and know what we are choosing. (Idea adapted from here.)
Discuss with your family that when we lived in Heaven before we came to earth that our Heavenly Father held a series of counsels with us where he taught us about the need for mortality and eternal progression. Jesus Christ volunteered to be our Savior and provide a way for us to return to live with God again through the atonement. Lucifer wanted to take away our agency and make it so that it would not be possible for any of us to sin and therefore we all would return to live with God again. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ understood that we needed to have the ability to choose using our agency in order to be tested while on the earth. What followed is known as the war in Heaven where we each had to make a choice of whom to follow. By coming to earth and receiving a body we know that we all chose to follow Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.
Elder Bednar has taught: In the grand division of all of God's creations, there are things to act and things to be acted upon. As sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, we have been blessed with the gift of agency--the capacity and power of independent action. Endowed with agency, we are agents, and we primarily are to act and not only to be acted upon--especially as we seek to obtain and apply spiritual knowledge.
Learning by faith and from experience are two of the central features of the Father's plan of happiness. The Savior preserved moral agency through the Atonement and made it possible for us to act and to learn by faith. Lucifer's rebellion against the plan sought to destroy the agency of man, and his intent was that we as learners would only be acted upon. (Seek Learning by Faith, 2007)
Elder Bednar has taught: In the grand division of all of God's creations, there are things to act and things to be acted upon. As sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, we have been blessed with the gift of agency--the capacity and power of independent action. Endowed with agency, we are agents, and we primarily are to act and not only to be acted upon--especially as we seek to obtain and apply spiritual knowledge.
Learning by faith and from experience are two of the central features of the Father's plan of happiness. The Savior preserved moral agency through the Atonement and made it possible for us to act and to learn by faith. Lucifer's rebellion against the plan sought to destroy the agency of man, and his intent was that we as learners would only be acted upon. (Seek Learning by Faith, 2007)
Video: The Sting of the Scorpion
Lesson Activity:
Have the younger members of your family color this page and then help them to fold it into a book. (Found here and available in both word and pdf formats.) Then read this book together and take the time to discuss the principle of agency with your child to assess their understanding of this vital gospel concept.
Ask the older members of your family to read Moses 4:1-2 and look for things they learn about the Savior and Satan in the Council in Heaven. What do we learn about the results of Satan's actions from verses 3-4? How does this conflict continue on earth today? What is the Savior's role in this conflict? What is our role? Invite your family to express their feelings about the Savior and His willingness to follow His Father's plan. List some of the challenges people face during mortal life. Read about the premortal life in True to the Faith (p.115-116), looking for truths that can help people face these challenges. (Taken from here.)
This weeks challenge: Continue to pray as a family that you will be able to share your knowledge of The plan of happiness (in particular: Where did we come from?) with a friend or relative. Prepare yourselves to be able to witness to others of God's love for them and what His plan is for all of us.
2 comments:
These are great! :)
You are amazing, I am so happy you have started this blog, I wanted to do the same thing for our family but I am the Grandma... lol and I'm not smart enough on the computer to figure all this out! So THANK-YOU so much for sharing-- we will use this for our FHE with our grown children & their families.
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