November 29, 2009 - GRATITUDE

"Gratitude is such a powerful principle that we can almost make it to the Celestial Kingdom on it alone." -Joseph Smith-. Scripture states: - "And inasmuch as ye do these things with Thanksgiving ...with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance ... the fulness of the earth is yours.... And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things...." (D&C 59) It is very important to teach gratitude to your children and it does have to be taught because gratitude does not come naturally to normal self-centered children. Teach it through example, through instruction, and through family prayer. Require and expect it from your kids even at a young age. Gratitude will benefit your homes and children's lives in some very important ways. If you show and express gratitude for your children daily you will find it leads to their greater personal security and confidence which you want your children to have. Also, a grateful child is a happier child and is able to learn to be other-centered more easily. But most importantly, gratitude is the natural antidote to Pride. Every human being has a tendency to pride and because it leads to so much misery, it is something we are always trying to combat. It is difficult to become prideful about something if you really believe that it is yours only because the Lord wills it thus and not because you are smarter or more able. It is even hard to get prideful about being smarter if you know that your brain was the Lord's doing and not your own. A child who has been really taught that everything he has comes from the Lord; his talents, his brain, his home, his circumtances, etc; and to constantly thank the Lord for those things, is reminded often that he really is beholding to the Lord in all things. That child will be less likely to brag or show off or get a big head over such things. True, like all parenting, this takes time, but if you teach gratitude now you will diffinitely see the results later. (And it won't hurt you at all in the meantime. Gratitude is as important for you as for your kids, and for the same reasons.)