The Family Proclamation ends with a solemn call to action:
We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.
Laws and government regulations can have a significant impact on families. So can managers and company policies, neighbors, teachers and school administrators, and extended families.
Clayton Christensen had an eye-opening experience as he observed one of his employees at a company picnic. She was an analytical chemist with a very important role in the firm, but as he watched her and her husband playing with their two children, he began to think about her work experience in a new light. What was the impact on her family when she arrived home from work discouraged, frustrated, and unappreciated? On the other hand, what was the positive effect on her family when she arrived energized after a productive and successful day? His paradigm shifted as he thought about her work experience in terms of her family (How Will You Measure Your Life, 25-27).
The Family Proclamation emphasizes that parents have sacred duties which require their time and attention. It teaches that children are entitled to a home in which their mother and father honor their marital vows. Each of us can strengthen families. The way we talk about marriage and parenting sets an important tone. Encouraging families to spend time together and giving them space as they do so helps them deepen their connections with one another. Supporting parents as they teach and guide their children helps them fulfill their responsibilities.
The Book of Mormon emphasizes the importance of families. After Nephi and his brothers retrieved the brass plates containing the genealogy of their family, their father, Lehi sent them back to Jerusalem, “saying that it was not meet … that he should take his family into the wilderness alone; but that his sons should take daughters to wife, that they might raise up seed unto the Lord in the land of promise” (1 Nephi 7:1). Lehi’s children understood that he valued marriage and that he considered raising children to be a sacred responsibility.
Years later, in the promised land, one of Lehi’s sons, Jacob, rebuked his people for their pride and immorality. He emphasized the severity of their actions by pointing out their impact on families:
Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them; and the sobbings of their hearts ascend up to God against you.
Jacob 2:35
And he contrasted their unfaithfulness with the strong families among their enemies, the Lamanites:
Behold, their husbands love their wives, and their wives love their husbands; and their husbands and their wives love their children.
Jacob 3:7
Today, I will support and strengthen families. I will see the people I interact with at work, at church, and in my community as members of families, not simply as individuals. I will support and encourage them in their efforts to build strong families and fulfill their God-given responsibilities.
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