Two Types of Blessings

The Savior described His Father this way in the Sermon on the Mount: “He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:44-45). This suggests that some blessings He gives universally independent of our actions. He has given all of us the earth upon which we live, the sun to shine down on us, and rain to bring forth food and life upon it. All of His children, whether good or evil, can enjoy these blessings that come from our Father in Heaven who “created the earth that it should be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it” (1 Nephi 17:36). He created our bodies which each of us have been given, and as King Benjamin taught, “[God is] preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another” (Mosiah 2:21). Our lives He has given us is a blessing all receive, and He has promised unconditionally that we can all have these bodies again: “The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form…. Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now” (Alma 11:43-44). The resurrection will come upon all of His children without regard to righteousness or wickedness. This is because the Father sent the Son to give His life to overcome the effects of the Fall so that all men and women will rise from the dead and be restored (at least for a time) to the presence of God. These blessings come without regard to merit or action on our part through His goodness and grace.

                But, on the other hand, other blessings from our Father in Heaven come only as we meet certain requirements to receive them. The Prophet Joseph Smith recorded, “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21). The eternal, permanent blessings we seek such as everlasting life depend upon our obedience to certain commandments. The Lord explained in a revelation: “For if you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you” (Doctrine and Covenants 78:7). To obtain a place in the celestial kingdom we must complete specific requirements. The Nephites were taught over and over again this cause and effect relationship: “If ye will keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land—but if ye keep not his commandments ye shall be cut off from his presence” (Alma 37:13). Some prosperity came for the Nephites because they kept the commandments, and when they did not keep the commandments they did not receive that same blessing. In our dispensation Oliver Cowdery learned indeed that some blessings required a certain amount of work and effort to receive, and when he did not translate like he wanted to the Lord explained, “Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right” (Doctrine and Covenants 9:7-8). A certain amount of spiritual work was required of him to get the blessing he sought, and as he had not paid the price he did not receive the blessing. The Lord, in this case, would not simply “give it unto [him]” without the necessary action on Oliver’s part. Some blessings from the Lord are dependent upon what we do and we will not receive them if we do not meet the requirements for them.

                I believe this understanding—that our Father in Heaven pours out some blessings unconditionally and others He requires something from us for—is an example we should follow in our own parenting. In some instances we should give to and bless our children simply because they are our children and because we love them. But other times we must require certain actions from them so they learn that what they receive in this life will be in a large part due to the efforts they make. Of course, the challenge is knowing how to balance these two types of actions—I am certainly still trying to figure out how to do that. Perhaps the most important motivation for both types of actions towards our children is our love for them. When we give without requirements, we show that we want to bless them just because we love them. When we require action on their part for certain blessings, we show that we love them enough to help them grow and develop into the people the Lord needs them to become. Either way, we should strive to live up to this description about the Savior: “He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world” (2 Nephi 26:24). All we give and do and require as parents should be out of love and for the ultimate benefit of our children.