Have you ever looked at your loved ones and wished that your time together would never have to end? The comforting truth of the restored gospel is that our closest relationships do not have to cease at death. Understanding the role of the family in God’s plan brings incredible peace, purpose, and direction to our daily lives.
The embedded document below features 45 profound apostolic quotes detailing the divine nature of the home. It explains the difference between a standard civil marriage and an eternal celestial union. By studying these powerful teachings, you can learn how to bind your loved ones together for all eternity.
Why the Family in God’s Plan Matters
The family is a divine institution, standing as the most important organization in both mortality and in eternity. In the Lord’s grand design for His children, He placed families as the absolute centerpiece of His organizational structure.
Our Father’s plan is heavily focused on families, which can be perfectly symbolized by a great tree. In order for a tree to live and grow, it desperately needs both its roots and its branches. We likewise need to be connected to our roots, our ancestors, and to our branches, our descendants.
The Crucial Foundation of Temple Marriage
To fully participate in this grand design, couples must seek out the highest ordinances available on earth. Temple marriage describes the physical place you go to have an eternal marriage performed. Conversely, celestial marriage is being entirely true to the sacred covenants you make during that ceremony.
Apostles have beautifully compared marriage to climbing a massive mountain. You securely tie yourself to a companion, and you start the arduous trek up the mountain of life. As a child comes along, you tie them to Mom and Dad and continue your journey together.
These spiritual ropes will safely hold all of the mountain climbers together through life’s storms. It requires immense teamwork, where spouses actively help one another as they speak, pray, and work side-by-side.
A Grand Design Before the Earth Was Formed
The concept of the home did not originate here on earth. The entire celestial organization of heaven is actually based on families, not on geography or any other worldly metric. Our Father in Heaven organized the human family long before we ever came to this mortal sphere.
Because of this divine origin, gender and marriage between a man and a woman are absolutely essential to His eternal plan. When we finally understand the eternal role of the family, the nourishing and developing of strong ties take on vastly greater significance.
The Sealing Power and Eternal Connections
The ultimate goal of this grand design is to securely connect every generation together. The sealing power of Elijah unites husbands and wives for eternity when they enter into marriage according to the eternal plan. It is the exact authority by which parents obtain the eternal claim of parenthood over their children.
Through this glorious temple work, we learn that sacred family ties are not to be broken by death. Husbands and wives will eternally have a rightful claim upon each other and upon their children to the very latest generation.
The Promise of Unending Joy and Happiness
When you prioritize the home, the blessings are truly limitless. The family, when continued from earth into the next world, becomes an unbreakable unit in everlasting life. Temple marriage becomes an absolute promise of unending joy.
We have the incredible promise that we will have our families with us in the morning of the first resurrection. This glorious reunion is worth absolutely all the sacrifice you or I could ever make during the few years we spend here in the flesh.In fact, to be a successful father or mother is a far greater achievement than being a successful general or statesman. Take a few minutes to read the excellent 13-page document below, and be sure to seek after your dead using the family history tools provided by the Church to complete your eternal family tree!
