Mothers are the rock of the home. They provide for their families in nurturing ways. They are the source of comfort, peace and strength in the home. Often it is the fortifying faith of mothers that shapes children and helps them make positive choices throughout their life.
Mothers begin teaching at birth
From those first tender moments as a newborn, mothers start to teach their little ones. They feel her love, concern and her strength. Children rely upon their mothers as the rock in their lives. Mothers can inspire children to have faith, choose good over evil and become a responsible and righteous adult. Through her example, her children will be trained to emulate her faith, her actions and handle adversity the same way she does.
The faith of mothers will help fortify their children against the adversary
Mothers who act in faith, teach and train their children in the ways of God and lead by example will have children who likely will do the same. When trials and the adversary wage war on the children, they will remember what their mothers had taught them. As a result, they will know how to handle the situation and avoid major pitfalls that can alter their lives in a negative way. They will emerge from their struggles stronger, with more faith and more resolve to live righteously.
The love, faith and prayers of a righteous mother are not in vain
Recently, longtime educator and religious leader Boyd Packer stated, "I have come to know that faith is a real power, not just an expression of belief. There are few things more powerful than the faithful prayers of a righteous mother." The prayers and faith of mothers can buoy children in a time when nothing else will help. It can help keep them on the path of righteousness and to know of their worth to God.
Teach and train a child properly, and they will not stray from it
If we, as mothers, do all we can to teach and train our children in the values we want them to hold dear, they will remain faithful to them. Occasionally, they may falter and stumble. But they will eventually return to righteousness. The love, faith and prayers of mothers play a very important role in this, as well. We must be diligent and consistent in teaching strong values if we expect our children to adhere to them.
Perfection is not required
Even with doing all we can to teach and train our children properly, our children are not going to be perfect - neither are we. We should not expect perfection from them or ourselves. We all will make mistakes. Use mistakes as a time to teach about love and forgiveness and trying to be better next time. As a mother of six children, I struggle with patience. When I find myself yelling and getting angry, I try to take a step back, calm down and then apologize and express love to my kids. This, I hope, teaches them that we can make a mistake, but repent and try to make positive changes in our life. We can also reiterate this when they make a wrong choice.
As mothers, we have great influence over our children. Through our fortifying faith, our children can be strong enough to withstand the adversary and other trials they will encounter. We must be faithful, diligent and pray always for our families while teaching and instilling in them strong, righteous values for them to live.
