Today I read 3 John which also only has 1 chapter. I was impressed with verse 4 which says "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth". As a former missionary, I can understand how he feels. I helped several people get baptized and to my knowledge only one of them is still active in the church and in her testimony. But it is a wonderful feeling to know that I had a hand in her learning about the church and teaching her the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Likewise I am so excited to teach my daughter all about the Gospel. I get such a thrill when it's time to say prayer to see her fold her little arms and then to hear her say Amen at the end. To see her treat such serious matters with the respect they deserve, even if in her mind she is only copying what she sees us doing, is a joy beyond words. Being a father is by far the greatest thing I have ever done and the most rewarding endeavor I could ever have embarked on. No amount of worldly success or event could ever compare with the joy I feel when I play with my little girl or see her smile or hear her say Amen.
I marvel that Heavenly Father entrusts His precious children to us for safe keeping. I'm not sure I could leave my little girl in the hands of someone else for the rest of her life to care for. But He put her in my care and has charged me with teaching her the things she needs to know in order to return to live with Him again some day. And I firmly believe that He will ask me how I did in that task when I see Him again. But teaching my daughter the Gospel, even to the little extent that I have taught her so far, has been a joy and is not a task at all. I don't have a hard time understanding John's feelings at all. They make perfect sense to me. I hope that if you are a parent you find the same joy in your children living the Gospel and in teaching them the truth. Until tomorrow.
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