Friday, September 23, 2011

The Family Proclamation Will Stand


I consider The Family: A Proclamation to the World to be God's "Constitution" for families--the thing that will build families up and make them rock solid.  

It contains everything that families need in order to be successful in their pursuit of happiness...regardless of the challenges that we all face.  

It even contains an inalienable "bill of rights" that protects children.

I know many people who are not members of our church who believe that families are forever.  They earnestly hope that family relationships do not end with death, even if their own religion is vague or silent on the topic.

The Family: A Proclamation to the World, however, is not vague and it is not silent on topics that most of us wonder about.

The Family Proclamation teaches us that God intends for families to be forever.  It also tells us specifically what it takes to become a forever family and invites everyone in the world to take those necessary steps--to overcome human frailties--in order to become an eternal family, and return home to God together.

We learn from The Family Proclamation that a forever family is a place where husband and wife treat each other with respect and love, and work together as equal partners.  A forever family is a place where children are welcome, where they are protected from neglect and abuse, and where they are taught that they are children of God with infinite potential.  It is a place where fidelity and forgiveness is absolutely key.  And it all begins when a man and a woman are sealed together for eternity in a temple of the Lord.

There are people in the world today, who would like these truths about the Family to go away.  But the fact is that regardless of who does or does not subscribe to the basic principles of family, the truths found in The Family Proclamation are not going away...ever.

The great movie-maker Cecil B. DeMille said, "You cannot break the Ten Commandments; you can only break yourself against them."

I echo his assessment when I say, "You cannot break the basic truths of The Family Proclamation; you can only break yourself against them."

Let us not break ourselves and our homes and families because we were too selfish, proud, or shortsighted to truly see the value of the advice contained in this inspired document--a document written and signed by prophets of the Lord.

Instead, let us build our lives upon it.  And let us quickly realize that in order to truly defend the liberty of all men, we must first defend and strengthen the family of all men.



Thanks to everyone who has commented and contributed to Celebrate Family 2011.  And special thanks to MontserratJaime from Welcome to the Madness, and Shannon of The Red Headed Hostess for continuing this beautiful tradition.

Please keep on contributing to the online conversation about what it takes to have happy, peaceful, successful families!  The world needs these truths now more than ever before!


Coming up in October, I will be blogging about The Book of Mormon and answering questions that I have received from my friends about what Mormons believe.  I would love to have you join me by blogging about your feelings about this inspired book and linking to the special Book of Mormon edition of the October 2011 Ensign.  You will have the opportunity to link-up your posts as well.






The Book of Mormon Forum







If you'd like to read along or join me, please grab this button or read up on The Book of Mormon Forum here and here.


Here are the posts from Celebrate Family 2011

(Family Proclamation Pass-along Card by Allison Kimball)

(Family Proclamation Treasure Hunt Game)


(Family Mission Statement Worksheet by JocelynChristensen)
(Family MissionStatement Blog Hop)

Working for Eternity by Meredith Tuttle


Family Proclamation FHE Lessons by Jocelyn Christensen
(Photo Essay Blog Hop)

Love is All You Need by Liz Pitcavage

From a Young Age by Becca Nelson


(FHE Lessons Blog Hop)


Forgiveness for Past Abuse by Jackie Sarager







20 comments:

  1. Jocelyn, I *loved* your comment: "The Family: A Proclamation to the World, however, is not vague and it is not silent..." I think too often we as women are hesitant to vocalize our beliefs about these sacred truths. Your words pierced me. The Lord needs me to not be vague and not remain silent.

    I so appreciate your participation in this incredible series! Thanks!

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  2. Another outstanding job in furthering the family proclamation and the good it represents...thanks.

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  3. Thanks for great reads these past couple weeks.

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  4. I have really enjoyed the celebration of the family. Thank you so much for this.
    I am also VERY excited about the Book of Mormon forum.

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  5. I have enjoyed every second of this process with you guys. Thank you so much for including me and allowing me the priveledge of being with you.

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  6. Jocelyn, Thank you for all of your time and effort, this has been a truly amazing and uplifting experience!

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  7. Thank you for helping with this effort. It was so good!

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  8. This week has been fabulous! Thank you for all your effort!

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  9. It's been a great couple of weeks. Thank you.

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  10. Loved this so much. Thank you for all the work you put into it, you did a fabulous job.

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  11. Amen.

    "And so it is written and so it shall be done."

    (Do you know the movie quote?)

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  12. Thank you for being an un-'vague' and un-'silent' advocate of the family!

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  13. Well said, Jocelyn! Thank you for helping all of us be a little better and stand a little firmer with our beliefs.

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  14. Thank you so much for organizing and participating in this celebration! I have really enjoyed reading all the posts and learning from everyone's ideas and perspectives!

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  15. This has been the best two weeks - I have enjoyed this fun preface to General Conference. Thank you for holding such a celebration!

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  16. Thanks for your constant inspirations and encouragement to ponder things. :)

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  17. Thank you so much for hosting this! I've loved reading so many wonderful posts. Sorry mine was a bit late - I ended up having to go out of town this week, but I just wanted to share one of my own testimony building experiences regarding the proclamation, so I posted it today :) http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4663065352003914767#editor/target=post;postID=5043544816063442020

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  18. Thanks so much for all you do!! Best month :)

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