Consistent care for each other

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Priesthood Session of the April 2012 Conference.

This week I liked President Eyring's talk about priesthood service in the family. I've (obviously) thought a lot about why so much of life is dedicated to these small circles of people, our families. We spend so much time, patience, effort on so relatively few people—and our work with them is still never really done! I'm sure this mirrors eternal principles about how much time it takes for a child of God to become like God. It's not quick or easy or temporary. It's a lifetime's work. An eternity's work, even. Anyway, I like how President Eyring describes it as "the part of Israel for which we are responsible":

[For all of us with priesthood responsibility], a great work ahead is to lead in saving the part of Israel for which we are or will be responsible: our families.

Then he quotes President Benson:

In an eternal sense, salvation is a family affair. …

Above all else, children need to know and feel they are loved, wanted, and appreciated. They need to be assured of that often. Obviously, this is a role parents should fill, and most often the mother can do it best.

Elder Eyring continues:

But another crucial source for that feeling of being loved is love from other children in the family. Consistent care of brothers and sisters for each other will come only with persistent effort by parents and the help of God.

Ha! Persistent effort. That is…an understatement. I often wonder if such "consistent care of brothers and sisters for each other" is possible at all, no matter how persistent the effort by parents! Not that I never see my children caring for each other. I do. But for all of them to care for all the others, consistently, feels like a very lofty goal. President Eyring suggests that one way to do it is to

Give children opportunities to pray, when they can pray, for each other in the circle who need blessings. Discern quickly the beginnings of discord and recognize acts of unselfish service, especially to each other. When they pray for each other and serve each other, hearts will be softened and turned to each other and to their parents.

There are good ideas here; several things I want to work on in my own family. And President Eyring gives this encouraging promise:

You will succeed through your faith …with the Lord’s help in turning the hearts of your children to each other and to their parents, and with love guiding you to correct and exhort in a way that invites the Spirit.

Other posts in this series:

Priesthood Power—by Rozy