December 13–19

The Family: A Proclamation to the World

“The Family Is Central to the Creator’s Plan”

As you study “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” this week, consider the truths that will support class members in their efforts to strengthen their homes and families.

Record Your Impressions

Invite Sharing

To encourage class members to share what they learned this week from their study of the family proclamation, you could ask them to choose any paragraph and summarize in one sentence what that paragraph teaches.

Teach the Doctrine

“The family is central to the Creator’s plan.”

• The Church is known for its emphasis on families, and the family proclamation reveals the doctrinal reasons for that emphasis. To encourage a discussion about this, you could invite class members to imagine that someone asked them why the Church emphasizes families so much. What truths from the proclamation could we share to answer the person’s question?

• One reason the family proclamation is so important is that it reaffirms truths that are under attack in our day. What truths in the proclamation help us not be deceived by false ideas about families in today’s world? How do these truths affect the choices we make? The statement by President Dallin H. Oaks in “Additional Resources” may be helpful in answering this question.

  

  Parents should raise their children in love and righteousness.

“Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

• Discussing the principles in paragraphs six and seven of the family proclamation could help members of your class find greater happiness in their family relationships. Consider listing the principles on the board and inviting class members to choose a principle to discuss in pairs. They could use questions like these to guide their discussions: What examples of this principle have we seen in family life? How does living this principle lead to happiness in our families? How does living this principle help to make the Savior the foundation of our family life? What scriptures might help our families understand this principle better? (Class members could find scriptures using the Topical Guide or Guide to the Scriptures [scriptures.ChurchofJesusChrist.org].) Each pair could then share with the class what they learned.

  Emphasize that regardless of our current family circumstances, we can strive to build an eternal family on the foundation of the Savior and His gospel.

“We call upon responsible citizens … to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family.”

• How can you help members of your class understand their responsibility to uphold the truths in the family proclamation? To begin the discussion, you might discuss what class members learn from the title of the proclamation. What is a proclamation? What qualified the First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles to issue a proclamation to the world regarding families? Class members could list what they consider to be the main messages of the proclamation (encourage them to cite specific passages). Then they could discuss ways to promote these messages in their community or nation. Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson’s message “Defenders of the Family Proclamation” contains examples you could review together as a class (Ensign or Liahona, May 2015, 14–17). You could also watch the video “Defenders of the Faith” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org).

Additional Resources

Families in God’s plan.

President Dallin H. Oaks taught:

“Latter-day Saints who understand God’s plan of salvation have a unique worldview that helps them see the reason for God’s commandments, the unchangeable nature of His required ordinances, and the fundamental role of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Our Savior’s Atonement reclaims us from death and, subject to our repentance, saves us from sin. With that worldview, Latter-day Saints have distinctive priorities and practices and are blessed with the strength to endure the frustrations and pains of mortal life. …

“The gospel plan each family should follow to prepare for eternal life and exaltation is outlined in the Church’s 1995 proclamation, ‘The Family: A Proclamation to the World.’ Its declarations are, of course, visibly different from some current laws, practices, and advocacy of the world in which we live. In our day, the differences most evident are cohabitation without marriage, same-sex marriage, and the raising of children in such relationships. Those who do not believe in or aspire to exaltation and are most persuaded by the ways of the world consider this family proclamation as just a statement of policy that should be changed. In contrast, Latter-day Saints affirm that the family proclamation defines the kind of family relationships where the most important part of our eternal development can occur” (“The Plan and the Proclamation,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2017, 29).

Improving Our Teaching

Live the gospel with all your heart. “Power comes when a teacher has done all that he can to prepare, not just the individual lesson, but in keeping his life in tune with the Spirit” (Boyd K. Packer, Teach Ye Diligently [1975], 306).