“Lesson 117: Marriage and Family (Part 2),” Old Testament Seminary Student Material (2018)
“Lesson 117: Marriage and Family (Part 2)”
Lesson 117
Marriage and Family (Part 2)
Prepare to Learn
Prepare your mind and heart to learn. Remember that the way you choose to participate in this lesson influences how much the Holy Ghost can teach you as you study. Demonstrate your desire to be taught by the Spirit by actively participating in this lesson.
Begin your study with prayer.
What do you do to bless your family?
Sometimes we think that a happy home depends entirely on what the parents do. However, children can make a big difference in a family.
Listen to how three siblings decided to make their home a holy place and how their parents responded.
Read the first sentence of paragraph 8.2 in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document. Look for a commandment that God has given His children. You may want to mark what you find.
Quiz 1
Which of the following statements best represents what the phrase “multiply and replenish the earth” means?
To have children
To seek all the education you can
To be honest in your dealings with others
Which doctrinal mastery scripture passage helps teach this key statement of doctrine?
Genesis 1:28 contains the first recorded words in the Bible that God spoke to Adam and Eve when they were in the Garden of Eden.
Read Genesis 1:28, looking for how it confirms this key statement of doctrine: God has commanded His children to multiply and replenish the earth. You may want to mark this statement in your copy of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document.
What can we learn from the fact that this was the first commandment God gave to Adam and Eve?
Read the following statement from “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” What have the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said about the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth?
“The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 145).
What does it mean when prophets, seers, and revelators say that “God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force”?
The Plan of Salvation
Read the following statement by Sister Julie B. Beck, former Relief Society General President. What did she teach about the role of the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth in the plan of salvation?
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Julie B. Beck
“Whereas in many cultures in the world children are ‘becoming less valued’ [James E. Faust, “Challenges Facing the Family,” Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, Jan. 10, 2004, 2], in the culture of the gospel we still believe in having children. … President Ezra Taft Benson taught that young couples should not postpone having children and that ‘in the eternal perspective, children—not possessions, not position, not prestige—are our greatest jewels’ [To the Mothers in Zion (pamphlet, 1987), 3, 4]” (Julie B. Beck, “Mothers Who Know,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2007, 76).
Participation in the Plan
Read the following statement by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. What did he teach about how having children helps us participate in the plan of salvation?
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D. Todd Christofferson
“God ordained that men and women should marry and give birth to children, thereby creating, in partnership with God, the physical bodies that are key to the test of mortality and essential to eternal glory with Him. …
“A family built on the marriage of a man and woman supplies the best setting for God’s plan to thrive—the setting for the birth of children, who come in purity and innocence from God, and the environment for the learning and preparation they will need for a successful mortal life and eternal life in the world to come” (D. Todd Christofferson, “Why Marriage, Why Family,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2015, 51, 52).
Our Physical Bodies
Consider the following statement by Elder Joseph W. Sitati of the Seventy. What did he teach about how our physical bodies allow us to participate in the plan of salvation? You can read the text for this video here: “Be Fruitful, Multiply, and Subdue the Earth,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2015, 127.
Consider the following statement by Elder Joseph W. Sitati of the Seventy. What did he teach about how our physical bodies allow us to participate in the plan of salvation?
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Joseph W. Sitati
“Our physical bodies are a blessing from God. We received them for the purposes of fulfilling Heavenly Father’s work ‘to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man’ [Moses 1:39]. The body is the means by which we can attain our divine potential.
“The body enables Heavenly Father’s obedient spirit children to experience life on earth [see Moses 5:10–11]. Bearing children gives other spirit children of God the opportunity to also enjoy life on earth. All who are born in mortality have the opportunity to progress and to be exalted if they obey God’s commandments.
“Marriage between a man and a woman is the institution that God ordained for the fulfillment of the charge to multiply” (Joseph W. Sitati, “Be Fruitful, Multiply, and Subdue the Earth,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2015, 127).
2. Answer the following questions:
In what ways does having children help us participate in the plan of salvation?
Why do you think it is important for Latter-day Saint youth to understand the importance of the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth?
To help you prepare to practice using the three principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge, briefly review them in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document:
Act in Faith
Examine Concepts and Questions with an Eternal Perspective
Seek Further Understanding through Divinely Appointed Sources
A Scenario
Consider the following scenario, in which a girl named Sarah is asked a difficult question about the Church. How does Sarah use the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge to address this question?
Consider the following scenario, in which a girl named Sarah is asked a difficult question about the Church. How does Sarah use the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge to address this question?
Friend: I don’t get it, Sarah. If your church believes so strongly in choice, then why are you against a woman choosing to have an abortion?
Sarah: It’s going to take a minute to explain. Let’s talk after class.
[Class ends]
Sarah: Okay. Let me try to answer your question. We have to step back and look at a bigger picture than just what happens here in this life. When you do, you can see that there’s more going on with abortion than just ending a pregnancy.
Friend: What does that mean?
Sarah: I guess my feelings on this are based on my understanding of the purpose of life. Well, what I mean is, life doesn’t begin with birth or end with death. We lived before we came to earth, and we continue to live after we die.
Friend: Do you really believe that?
Sarah: Yeah, I do. Heavenly Father has a plan for our lives. Part of that plan is to come to earth and get a body. And as part of that plan, Heavenly Father shares with us the power to create other bodies. But He commands us to use it only in marriage.
So if we use that power and choose to invite life, and then turn around and destroy it, that goes against God’s purpose in even giving it to us in the first place. We’re taking into our own hands powers reserved for Him.
God gives us freedom of choice, but with it comes responsibility for our choices. So if we choose to use that power, we have to deal with the consequences of that choice. Does that make sense?
Friend: Yeah, it does. Thanks.
3. Please consider how you would respond to the following questions. Then answer two of them.
How did Sarah use the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge to answer her friend’s question?
What else would you share or try to explain if you were asked the same question?
How could you use Genesis 1:28 or other divinely appointed sources to answer this question?
The Church’s Position
To learn more about the Church’s position on abortion, read the following statement from True to the Faith:
“Latter-day prophets have denounced abortion, referring to the Lord’s declaration, ‘Thou shalt not … kill, nor do anything like unto it’ (D&C 59:6). Their counsel on the matter is clear: Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints must not submit to, perform, encourage, pay for, or arrange for an abortion. If you encourage an abortion in any way, you may be subject to Church discipline.
“Church leaders have said that some exceptional circumstances may justify an abortion, such as when pregnancy is the result of incest or rape, when the life or health of the mother is judged by competent medical authority to be in serious jeopardy, or when the fetus is known by competent medical authority to have severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth. But even these circumstances do not automatically justify an abortion. Those who face such circumstances should consider abortion only after consulting with their local Church leaders and receiving a confirmation through earnest prayer” (True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference [2004], 4).
The plan of salvation emphasizes the sacredness of life. Heavenly Father has also revealed that families are central to His plan to exalt His children and that they can help us prepare to someday return to His presence.
Think about what you will do to help your family now and in the future to perform its sacred role in preparing God’s children to return to His presence.
