The Heads of the Parents

In Elder Christofferson’s recent conference address about fathers he said, “We find in the scriptures a repeated emphasis on the parental obligation to teach one’s children” (see here).  He quoted perhaps the most direct commandment in the Doctrine and Covenants about parents’ divine responsibility to teach their children: “And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents” (D&C 68:25).  As I’ve thought about this, I realize that there are repeated commandments and examples throughout the scriptures to motivate parents to teach their children the principles of the gospel. 

                A few other passages of scripture reiterate this commandment for parents to teach their children the things of the Lord.  In the Law of Moses, referring to the whole of the word of God,

Parents were commanded: “And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (Deuteronomy 11:19).  In the Book of Mormon, King Benjamin commanded parents this way: “And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the evil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness.  But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another” (Mosiah 4:14-15).  Perhaps this verse gives us the commandment most directly: “I have commanded you to bring up [their] children in light and truth” (D&C 93:40).

                Many other scriptures show parents who did indeed take teaching their children seriously.  Of our first parents we read simply, “And Adam and Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters” (Moses 5:12).  When Lehi struggled with Laman and Lemuel because of their rebelliousness, “He did exhort them then with all the feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words” (1 Nephi 8:17).  Nephi clearly worried much about his children and posterity, for he recorded, “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God…. And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins” (2 Nephi 25:23, 26).  Of the stripling warriors we read, “They had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it” (Alma 56:47-48).  We have other specific examples of the teachings of fathers to their children, such as in Lehi’s addresses to his children and grandchildren (2 Nephi  1-4), King Benjamin’s teachings to his sons (Mosiah 1), Alma’s words of exhortation to his three sons (Alma 36-42), Helaman’s teachings about the Savior to his sons Nephi and Lehi (Helaman 5), and in Mormon’s letters to his son Moroni (Moroni 7-9).  Through their faithful parenting and loving counsel all of these mothers and fathers lived up to their responsibility to teach the truth to their children.  As we try to emulate them in our own small way, I can think of no greater blessing that could come from our parenting efforts than what Isaiah said, “And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children” (3 Nephi 22:13).