When two people love each other, they often have mutual goals, or are willing to create goals together. For example, when a husband and wife love each other, they will create a mutual goal of correctly raising a child. This love not only unifies their collective parenting efforts, but stands as an example for what healthy love and respect is to the child they are raising together.
I will make a goal to teach my children to love and serve one another by creating an atmosphere of unselfish behavior in my home. I will constantly ask my children how they can make their siblings feel loved, and show them the benefits of services and the spirit that it can bring. When mistakes or contention occur, I will instruct the children in question to look for something kind to do for one another after they have apologized. This will help them associate kindness with forgiveness.
I will also teach my children to follow the commandments of God. This learning will come through home scripture and gospel study, and through the sharing of my own personal experiences where I have broken the commandments, and the problems that straying from them caused.
At the end of life's various struggles, children have their own personal agency, and parents can do nothing to control this, only to influence. It is important for parents to remember this so they do not become discouraged and give up on their efforts to love and teach their children. Agency is a crucial part of God's plan for his children.
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