Children Become Like Their Parents

I heard a family scientist say - "Where religious faith is concerned, children do not imitate what they see their parents do, like they imitate language or social behavior; they become what they believe their parents are." When parents are not living gospel principles in one way or another their children suffer. Some people, as we attempt to teach them the gospel, do not want family relationships to last forever and this because of their own experience in a family deprived of many loving experiences. Many gospel truths were not lived in their families and so they suffer because of it, often for their whole lives.

People often have a hard time seeing God able to be a more capable father than their own father. For example some people find it hard to believe in a God who actually loves them and actually cares for their well being because they grew up with a father who lacked these qualities. "Faithlessness takes on a focused hostility when there is mistreatment, indifference, abuse, or other forms of parental irresponsibility. Especially this is true when fathers not only fail to act to organize their families, but act to hurt their children. ... Mistreatment by a father quickly leads to the suspicion that the Savior cannot be trusted either. Such a father robs his children of their childhood, meaning that they learn little hope, less faith, and unless their is some spiritual intervention, children will have much greater difficulty believing that there is a God capable of love and a Messiah capable of sacrifice."

"It is the gospel applied in a family setting that exerts the greatest influence." In his talk called Family Leadership, where I am getting all these quotes, Lynn Scoresby suggests six practices and all six are very fitting to the number he assigned to them. I created the seventh and I may modify it later. I highly recommend listening to this talk, it is very insightful and less than an hour.

Seven priesthood practices which will promote spirituality and faith in the lives of our children.

1. Prepare more than you punish.
2. Pray together.
3. Encourage more than you criticize.
4. Involve and individualize.
5. Love more than you isolate.
6. Love enough to set limits.
7. Watch God's hand in their lives.