What is the power of family? Why are they so important to Heavenly Father? He has placed us here in a loving and supportive family as a central part of His plan for us. Why? Because we are His family.
One of the truths that I treasure most about the gospel of Jesus Christ as taught in the LDS Church is that we are very literally children of God. He is the Father of our spirits, and we are His children. Family matters because He wants us to remember the happiness that we knew in His presence. That is why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints focuses its efforts around Christ-like, eternal families.
I do realize that for many this type of family life has not been a possibility. That is why I’m also grateful to realize that Heavenly Father took this into account when He sent us here to earth. He gave us a powerful gift of agency to choose for ourselves the course our lives would take. With this gift He also provided an unspeakable blessing. He gave us an Older Brother.
Each of us will face trials within this life. That is part of why we were sent here. This time away, this time of choices provides us with an amount of spiritual growth that could not be achieved within the presence of our Heavenly Father. Still, the overall goal is growth at the end of our lives that will lead us back into our Father’s presence again. He knew we would not be perfect. He knew many would lose their way. He knew some would never find the path. But He also knew we could come back. That is the power of Jesus Christ, our Elder Brother.
Jesus Christ is our exemplar and our Savior. We look to Him for a pattern of life that feeds our spirits and draws us closer to our Heavenly Father’s love. We also look to Him to bind our wounds and heal our hearts when the sorrows of the world, or our own mistakes, weigh us down. When Heavenly Father presented the plan of happiness to His children, He asked for a Savior. He asked for one who would lead a perfect, sinless life for us to learn from, but more importantly who would atone for our sins. Jesus Christ answered, “Here am I, send me.” He was our Elder Brother before this life and He continued that role during His mortal ministry, atonement and death on our behalf. He watches out for us, still. Pleading with us to hear His voice and come unto Him.
How grateful I am for the call of the Good Shepherd, for His influence in my life, so that in my own way I can answer, “Here am I, send me.” With Jesus Christ as my Elder Brother, I can be equal to any task that the Lord has prepared for my personal growth here on earth. I will be His disciple. I will serve at the Master’s hand until the day that I stand before my Brother and my Father in judgment. I will give Jesus Christ my heart and willingly turn all my sins, doubts and fears over to Him so that I can once again stand pure and worthy before my Heavenly Father. Because of Jesus Christ, no matter what my family life may have been here on earth I can return to God’s family. There’s no greater joy than that.
