Psalm 36:7-9 The Loving God

Psalm 36:7-9

How excellent is thy loving kindness, O God, therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.  They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.  For with thee is the fountain of life: and thy light shall we see light.

I believe with my whole heart that the most important thing we must teach our children about about God is that He loves us unconditionally. He always has and always will. He is our Loving Father in Heaven. The only reason why anyone should follow His teachings, keep His commandments, make covenants with Him is that they have come to know His love and have learned to trust Him.

Only then are they free to find joy in living the gospel. They can live a principle free of fear, free of retribution, and learn for themselves the joy that comes from so living.

When we don't know what to do in a situation, but we know the Lord loves us, then we can go to the scriptures, His word, or we go to Him in prayer seeking understanding and guidance - because we trust Him. We find there what the Psalmist calls "light". His light becomes our light. It lights our path to the challenges of life.

As I look back over my own life, I know that as a little child I lovee Jesus and I knew He loved me. Somewhere along the way I became conflicted over the nature of God the Father. I was afraid of him and grateful that Jesus was my intercessor.

When I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I carried that baggage along with me. That is why I cried when the Young Women theme was introduced, beginning with, "I am the daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves me and I love Him". That is why I love the book, The God Who Weeps. That is why the first and most basic lesson in Preach my Gospel is "God is our loving Heavenly Father".

That loving God is the only God worthy of our trust and our devotion.

So how do we help our children to know and feel his love? Here are some thoughts: 

1. We model God's love. We model his attributes and when we err, we asked our kids to forgive us.

2. We must be happy living the gospel and express that joy comes from its principles so our kids will know what it is we are feeling. Our testimonies can't be general statements like "I know the church is true". They must be specific and let our kids know exactly what we know, how it affects us, and the joy it brings.

"I pay tithing because I find great joy in helping to build God's kingdom here on earth." "Fasting is hard but it feels good to feel hunger and remind myself that others feel this way all the time.  My contribution helps those people."  

3. When we read scriptures as a family we have to discuss what we read. We have to give our kids the tools to deal with the angry God, the God who punishes whole cities with destruction, the God who seemingly only loves us when we do good and please Him. If we read those scriptures and say nothing about them - then we infer that say they are true. We must help our children see God's love in the scriptures.

4. We fill our homes with beautiful gospel music that teaches His love; joyful songs that allow you to feel that love. Those hymns and songs are abundant in our hymnbook and in the children's songbook.  These are but a sampling.   There are so many. . .

I Feel my Savior's Love

My Heavenly Father Loves Me

Our Savior's Love

There is Beauty All Around

He Sent His Son

How Firm a Foundation

How Great Thou Art

The Lord is My Light

The Lord My Pasture Will Prepare

Come Unto Him

Come Ye Disconsolate

Come Unto Jesus

Be Still My Soul

When Faith Endures

I Believe in Christ

I Know That My Redeemer Lives

Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee

I Stand all Amazed

Because I Have Been Given Much

Lord, I Would Follow Thee

Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd

There is Sunshine in my Soul Today

O Love That Glorifies the Don

I am a Child of God

I Know my Father Lives

Teach Me to Walk