Excerpts from
Jesus did not choose to control those around Him and certainly was not controlled by them. Those in His personal sphere of influence did not often follow His perfect example. Still, by maintaining constant contact with his Father, he always maintained control of Himself–no matter what others chose to say or do. Jesus our exemplar didn’t achieve self-mastery by white-knuckled effort on His own, however. He often “took himself apart to pray” to His Father. He spent forty days in the wilderness fasting and praying in preparation to be a clear conduit of the Father’s will. He achieved self-mastery, then, by prayer, yielding His will to the Father’s, and following the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Ed McCormack, a trusted friend and counselor, taught me that my primary mission as a parent is not to orchestrate but to radiate. He wrote in an e-mail to me:
The very best thing you can do for your children and grandchildren is to continue to develop the light within you. To continue to say, “I choose the light,” so that light can grow ‘brighter and brighter within you until the perfect day’ (D&C 50:23). What could have a better effect on a child of any age than a mother in whom the Spirit of God dwells and from whom that Spirit is radiating? I think this is true mothering and can be done whether you are married or divorced or widowed. To have a portion of that Spirit dwelling in you, such that you can be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to your own children; that is true mothering. (Alma 17, 18, 26) And that is an opportunity much of which still lies in the future. So there is much to look forward to.
And a readers comment:
Thank you for this wonderful example. I too have experienced this situation in my life....It's amazing how the fear of failure will drive us to do things which are against the nature of our Heavenly Father. It's odd now looking back seeing things more clearly that jail was the exact thing that was needed to persuade my daughter to change... and now to think I would have done almost anything to keep her from that is incredibly humbling.
Want Stress Relief? Change Your QuestionsBy Darla Isackson · August 5, 2015
God soundly rejected Satan’s plan of keeping children from making mistakes. I have learned from the light of the Spirit that it is not a parent’s job to control children so they do not need to repent—but to teach them where to turn for a remission of their sins. 2 Nephi 25:26 says, “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” It is a given that they will have sins to repent of, as we do.Jesus did not choose to control those around Him and certainly was not controlled by them. Those in His personal sphere of influence did not often follow His perfect example. Still, by maintaining constant contact with his Father, he always maintained control of Himself–no matter what others chose to say or do. Jesus our exemplar didn’t achieve self-mastery by white-knuckled effort on His own, however. He often “took himself apart to pray” to His Father. He spent forty days in the wilderness fasting and praying in preparation to be a clear conduit of the Father’s will. He achieved self-mastery, then, by prayer, yielding His will to the Father’s, and following the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Ed McCormack, a trusted friend and counselor, taught me that my primary mission as a parent is not to orchestrate but to radiate. He wrote in an e-mail to me:
The very best thing you can do for your children and grandchildren is to continue to develop the light within you. To continue to say, “I choose the light,” so that light can grow ‘brighter and brighter within you until the perfect day’ (D&C 50:23). What could have a better effect on a child of any age than a mother in whom the Spirit of God dwells and from whom that Spirit is radiating? I think this is true mothering and can be done whether you are married or divorced or widowed. To have a portion of that Spirit dwelling in you, such that you can be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to your own children; that is true mothering. (Alma 17, 18, 26) And that is an opportunity much of which still lies in the future. So there is much to look forward to.And a readers comment:
Thank you for this wonderful example. I too have experienced this situation in my life....It's amazing how the fear of failure will drive us to do things which are against the nature of our Heavenly Father. It's odd now looking back seeing things more clearly that jail was the exact thing that was needed to persuade my daughter to change... and now to think I would have done almost anything to keep her from that is incredibly humbling.
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