Week 12 Order and Unity

My thoughts this week revolve around order. Our church is a church of order. The gospel is a gospel of order. Our homes and families can be homes and families in order. 

I went to the temple today. I was so overwhelmed with the feeling of peace there. I wanted to find ways to make my home feel more like the temple. I started thinking about how and why the temple feels that way. Obviously the temple is the House of the Lord, but I think our homes can have a similar feeling. The characteristics of the temple that I considered centered around order. The temple is clean and free of clutter and unnecessary items. The processes of the temple are clear. We know what to expect in the temple. Directions are clear. There is love and support in the temple. There is equality in the temple. There is unity in the temple. 

The temples don't just get to be that way. There are councils held quite often, I imagine, where policies and procedures are reviewed and staff is briefed and trained. I think if we want to make our homes like the temples we need to be doing the same thing. Councils are critical to the success of the church. The same is true for our families. We have to be willing to have weekly couple's councils and weekly family councils. It's a great time to see how everyone is doing, how procedures and policies are working, and find ways to be better. 

Henry B. Eyring said in his talk, 'That We May be One', "Where people have that Spirit with them, we may expect harmony. The Spirit puts the testimony of truth in our hearts, which unifies those who share that testimony." This is why the temple feels so good. We are all united in our testimonies of Jesus Christ. We can have that in our homes. We can be unified as families. We get that unity by keeping our baptismal covenants to always remember Him and to keep His commandments. When we are united in our goals to be like Christ, we are united as a family. 

I'm not going to lie...there's a LOT of chaos in my home. We have very busy kids that are going in 3 different directions everyday of the week. Sometimes scripture study and family prayers fall by the wayside. My husband and I come together in those times and talk about what is going wrong. Why is everything going so poorly? Why is there selfishness and fighting? Where is the peace and love? It always comes back to us doing the things we are asked to do. The feeling in our home is remarkably different when we are reading our scriptures and saying family prayers. 

To summarize, I believe order is needed to maintain a spirit of peace and unity in our homes. To have order, we must be holding regular councils in our marriages and families. Prayer must be a part of our councils. We cannot do it alone. We must be united as couples, and families, to seek and do the will of the Lord.