“Lesson 16 Class Preparation Material: Obtaining Happiness in Family Life through Jesus Christ,” The Eternal Family Teacher Material (2022)
“Lesson 16 Class Preparation Material,” The Eternal Family Teacher Material
Lesson 16 Class Preparation Material
Obtaining Happiness in Family Life through Jesus Christ
Reflect for a minute on times when you have felt happiness and peace in your life. While serving as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, Elder Richard J. Maynes taught, “The joy we experience in this life will be in direct proportion to how well our lives are centered on the teachings, example, and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ” (“The Joy of Living a Christ-Centered Life,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2015, 28). As you study in preparation for class, consider how establishing your personal and family life on Jesus Christ and His teachings can bring you greater happiness, peace, and stability, regardless of your circumstances.
Section 1
How can my family and I build a spiritual foundation on Jesus Christ?
When a building is constructed, careful attention is given to its foundation and the type of ground it will rest on. A secure foundation will stabilize the building and protect it against the forces of nature and the stress of daily use. How can this concept relate to you as you build your personal and family life?
The prophet Helaman taught his sons about the need to build their spiritual foundation on Jesus Christ.
Study in Preparation for Class
Read Helaman 5:12, and look for how building on “the rock of our Redeemer” can strengthen us against influences that threaten our personal and family life.
As you read the following statement by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, look for how we can build the foundation of our personal and family life on Jesus Christ:
Ordinances and covenants are the building blocks we use to construct our lives upon the foundation of Christ and His Atonement. We are connected securely to and with the Savior as we worthily receive ordinances and enter into covenants, faithfully remember and honor those sacred commitments, and do our best to live in accordance with the obligations we have accepted. And that bond is the source of spiritual strength and stability in all of the seasons of our lives. (“Therefore They Hushed Their Fears,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2015, 48)
While serving in the Presidency of the Seventy, Elder Donald L. Hallstrom taught the following about building on the foundation of Jesus Christ:
All the tools you need to build, repair, or strengthen your foundation are available to you. … They include consistent, quality prayer; daily gospel study through the scriptures; actively participating in the meetings of the Church, especially by partaking of the sacrament with real intent; continual selfless service; and diligent covenant keeping.
Another essential tool is the counsel of living prophets. (“Jesus Christ: Our Firm Foundation,” Ensign, Apr. 2016, 61)
Record Your Thoughts
Think about some of the most effective ways you or your family have built on the foundation of Jesus Christ. List in a notebook or note-taking app a few habits or practices that you could share in class.
Section 2
What blessings are available to me and my family if we choose to build our foundation on Jesus Christ and His teachings?
Latter-day prophets have declared, “Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org).
Study in Preparation for Class
Think of a teaching of Jesus Christ that has brought you happiness in your personal or family life as you have applied it. Find a scripture passage that contains this teaching. Come to class prepared to share what you find.
When a group of people, such as a family, decide to build their lives on the Savior and His teachings, they can experience great blessings. This is one reason why the concept of Zion, a people who are “of one heart and one mind, and [dwell] in righteousness” (Moses 7:18), is so beautiful and powerful. One example of this kind of people can be found in the Book of Mormon. After the Savior visited the inhabitants of the Americas, the people collectively committed to live His teachings.
Study in Preparation for Class
Study 4 Nephi 1:1, 11–13, 15–18, and look for what teachings the people chose to live and how living these teachings affected them.
Ponder in Preparation for Class
Where have you seen examples of the types of blessings described in this scripture passage? What might it look like if a family worked together to build their lives on Jesus Christ and His teachings? How can you begin now to seek, or how can you continue to seek, this ideal?
Section 3
What obstacles can keep me and my family from building a foundation on Jesus Christ?
Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles addressed ways the adversary attempts to keep us from building our life on the Savior and His teachings:
Satan and his hosts will do all in their power to keep you from obtaining the ordinances required for the ideal family. He will attempt to distract you from centering your mind and heart on raising a strong family by nurturing your children as the Lord requires.
… Satan has a powerful tool to use against good people. It is distraction. He would have good people fill life with “good things” so there is no room for the essential ones. (“First Things First,” Ensign, May 2001, 7)
Think about some “good things” you have seen distract people from focusing on what is essential in their personal or family life.
Some of us might have cultural or family traditions or practices that keep us from building our foundation firmly on Jesus Christ and His gospel (see Doctrine and Covenants 93:39). President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency taught:
To help its members all over the world, the Church teaches us to give up any personal or family traditions or practices that are contrary to the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ and to this gospel culture. (“The Gospel Culture,” Ensign, Mar. 2012, 42)
Consider what other obstacles might be holding you or your family back from more fully building your foundation on the Savior.
After discussing the work that was being done by the construction crew to fortify and renovate the foundation and structure of the Salt Lake Temple, Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles suggested the following:
An introspective look may reveal that we too and our families could benefit from our doing some needed maintenance and renovation work, even a seismic upgrade! We might start such a process by asking:
“What does my foundation look like?”
“What comprises the thick-walled, stable, strong cornerstones that are part of my personal foundation, upon which my testimony rests?”
“What are the foundational elements of my spiritual and emotional character that will allow me and my family to remain steadfast and immovable, even to withstand the earthshaking and tumultuous seismic events that will surely take place in our lives?” (“A Good Foundation against the Time to Come,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2020, 50)
Act
Reflect on the questions Elder Stevenson asked. How can you more fully establish your foundation—your priorities, values, decision-making, use of time, and so forth—on Jesus Christ and His gospel? Record a goal or a plan you can work on this week.