2.76 And This Because of Thy Family

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth, a bold reminder that our lives are meant to carry his flavor, his truth, and his love to the world. Join me each day to explore one verse of scripture and one thought, striving to stay full of savor and truly live as savory salt. Hello, my friends.

Great to have you with me. Today, let’s be anxiously engaged in a good cause and bring to pass much righteousness. A very welcome to you this week as we dive into some amazing scriptures throughout this week.

I am so excited for our readings inside of Doctrine and Covenants sections 23–26, which as Come Follow Me has labeled it, “Seek for the Things of a Better World.” I love that. And I am so excited to look at some of the verses inside of that, as well as our readings inside of 2 Nephi chapters 24–27. And considering things of a better world, we may even get a few verses there that speak to it as well.

Let’s dive into our verse for today. It comes inside of Doctrine and Covenants section 23. And this is kind of almost a hodgepodge of sorts of the Lord’s direction to five specific individuals.

And our verse for today is going to look specifically at the Lord’s counsel to Hyrum Smith, who was the brother of Joseph Smith the Prophet. And it comes inside of Doctrine and Covenants section 23, verse 3. It says, “Amen.” Now, there’s a lot inside of this one, and I want to try and touch on a couple of these while staying inside of just our quick thought for today.

One, I love inside of Doctrine and Covenants section 23, the repetitive nature that the Lord gives to each one of these men saying, “Thou art under no condemnation.” These men were doing the best that they could to grow the Church. They were learning and failing and learning and failing. And I think if the Lord were to talk to us today, for those of us that are trying to do our best and we’re learning and failing and we’re learning and failing, I feel like the Lord would have much the same counsel for us.

As we seek to follow the Lord and to live his counsel and to seek in daily repentance and follow the prophet, I believe he would say, “Thou art under no condemnation” as well. And then we get this interesting piece here for Hyrum to strengthen the Church continually and that his duty is unto the Church forever. And this, “because of thy family,” that phrase stuck out to me: “because of thy family.” And I wanted to do a little bit of digging into that one.

Come to find out, I always like to find these random little things inside of here, so as best as I can find in my research, Doctrine and Covenants section 23, verse 3 has been quoted in General Conference five times. But here’s the interesting nugget with it: All five of those quotations have been from President Russell M. Nelson at different times with him speaking.

Isn’t that interesting? Sometimes I love to find these verses that apostles and prophets seem to latch on inside of their own messages to the Church. And this seems to be one from President Nelson.

And inside of his April 2006 talk, he says this around the idea of Doctrine and Covenants section 23, verse 3. He says, “As I meet with priesthood leaders, I often ask about the priorities of their various responsibilities. Usually they mention their important Church duties to which they’ve been called.

Too few remember their responsibilities at home. Yet priesthood offices, keys, callings, and quorums are meant to exalt families. Priesthood authority has been restored so that families can be sealed eternally.

So, brethren, your foremost priesthood duty is to nurture your marriage, to care for. Be a blessing to her and your children.” My friends, today, if I could maybe target the message just a little bit specifically to those brothers that are listening to this podcast: be a blessing to your wife and your children. Do what you can today to nurture your marriage, to care for, respect, honor, and love your wife.

It’s so interesting to me how caught up we can be inside of the obligations and responsibilities. I want to be a better father and a better husband, and I want my emphasis on my family to be that of eternal relationships. From Doctrine and Covenants section 23, verse 3, I see that as I work to strengthen the Church, and as I work to fulfill my duties inside the Church, I also need to make sure that I realize the emphasis is on the growth of my family and our eternal relationships.

And the Lord will bless me with that work. That’s all for today, my friends. Lift up your hearts and rejoice.

Cleave unto the covenants you have made, and together we will be savory salt. Subtitles byantomintin.com