What Matters Most?

 Talk of the Week: "Remember What Matters Most"

One of the things that Elder Ballard taught in his list of what matters most is family relationships. 

In paragraph seventeen he taught that

 "Nurturing these important relationships is a CHOICE. A choice to be a part of a family requires commitment, love, patience, communication and forgiveness.... We CHOOSE to love and sustain one another. We do the same in other family relationships and with friends who are like family to us."

 I know that love is a choice... especially when choosing an eternal companion, but I don't think I've ever considered that principle from the perspective of a child before.

I think it would be easy for a child to feel like they had no choice in their family, after all, they might say, wasn't it their parent's choice to bring them here? Truly their parents made a choice! God sent them to a family, but the choice is theirs as to how well they belong or not. Like Elder Ballard says, NURTURING RELATIONSHIPS IS A CHOICE. When we struggle in a relationship, particularly a family one, it is important to ask ourselves: "Am I nurturing this relationship? Am I choosing this relationship? How invested am I in loving this person?"

If family relationships are among those things of mortality that matter most - and they are - then they will be among our greatest priorities. We will choose to love our family members no matter what dumb stuff they might do or say. It will take focus, intention and effort. Without those elements the relationship is merely a wish that may never be realized. If we want to be closer to a particular family member we must choose it over and over and over again and then act on it, act on it again, and again and again forever. The minute we doubt a relationship, we weaken or compromise it. 

This is a message that I needed to hear. I desire the power and promise of a united family.