Being Born Again and Forever Families

It might be fun for your family to read the beginning of the story of Nicodemus in John 3:1-7, to see how Jesus answers Nicodemus when he asks about being born again.  Then turn to the Pearl of Great Price to Moses 6:51-52 where the Lord tells Adam that he needs to be baptized and then Adam asks Him why men need to be baptized.  Now skip to verses 59-60 to see the Lord's answer to Adam.

I love these verses because the Lord gives a beautiful explanation about being "born again."  He says that first we were born into this world by water and blood and the spirit--all elements of mortal birth.  Then He says that we must be born again into the kingdom of heaven of water and of the Spirit and be cleansed by the blood of the Only Begotten.  Our first birth was into this mortal world into a mortal family, but God wants us to also be born into His kingdom which is His covenant family!

We can talk to our children about what happens when we are born into a mortal family--we become sons and daughters in that family, we take upon us the name of that family, we look like members of that family, and we are nurtured by that family and inherit traits and blessings that are in the family.

 What happens when we are born again into the covenant family of God?  We become the sons and daughters of Christ (Mosiah 5:2), we take upon us His name (D&C 20:77), we receive His image in our countenance (Alma 5:14), and we are nurtured by Him (Ephesians 6:4) become like Him through a change in our hearts (Mosiah 5:2,7) and the workings of the Spirit within us (Galatians 5:22-23; Mosiah 3:19) and promised we will inherit all that He hath (D&C 14:7; 132:19).

 One of His promises to us is that if we keep our covenants to Him, He will seal our earthly family into His covenant family for forever!

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I love these words of President Henry B. Eyring:

For some, that eternal joy[of being in a forever family] may seem a faint or even a fading hope. Parents, children, brothers, and sisters may have made choices that seem to disqualify them from eternal life...

A prophet of God once offered me counsel that gives me peace. I was worried that the choices of others might make it impossible for our family to be together forever. He said, “You are worrying about the wrong problem. You just live worthy of the celestial kingdom, and the family arrangements will be more wonderful than you can imagine.”--The Hope of Eternal Family Love, August 2016 Ensign