Culture of The Family

    This week I would like to touch on the culture of the family. There are many different types of cultures. A lot of the time when we are asked about culture we associate it with countries, different regions inside those countries, or a group of people. Culture can cover all that and more. How many of you thought of your family or how you were raised when someone was talking about culture? I never did. Whenever I was asked about cultures I always thought about groups of people that act differently or believe differently than I do. I never really thought about the cultures that surrounded me in my daily life. I have always wondered about the different types of cultures not so much about all the current details but about how they came to be. All the different cultures out there started somewhere and I always found it interesting to wonder where, whom, or what they originated from. Just like cultures from different countries I think that it is amazing that the culture of each family is different and unique. With my curiosity that I mentioned earlier I really enjoy digging in and finding out how the culture or traditions in my own family came about. (a great website I use for this is FamilySearch.org) 

Now there are a lot of cultures out there and pretty much all of them have some good and some bad. So our responsibility is to create the best family culture and traditions for us and our loved ones so that we can all come closer to our Savior Jesus Christ. This won’t be the easiest, because we will need to change some of our culture or traditions that we already have. This doesn’t mean that we need to get rid of everything and start with a clean slate. Our culture is who we are but it will mean getting rid of those things that go against the teachings of Jesus Christ. As Elder William K. Jackson of the Seventy states in “The Culture of Christ” 

“What a magnificent world we live in and share, home to a great diversity of peoples, languages, customs, and histories—spread out over hundreds of countries and thousands of groups, each rich in culture. Mankind has much to be proud of and to celebrate. But though learned behavior—those things to which we are exposed by the cultures we grow up in—can serve as a great strength in our lives, it can also, at times, become a significant obstacle.”

Just like Elder Jackson says, these traditions and cultures can be our strengths but can also be an obstacle that holds us back from finding that joy and happiness in our lives. It might not even be something that you notice or think of like how you were raised carries over to how you raise your children. It is really common to see things like how parents treat each other in front of their children or how they discipline their kids or even the small things carry over from one generation to another. So we need to create that “Culture of Christ” That Elder Jackson speaks of which states that

 “This culture is grounded in the testimony that our Heavenly Father exists, that He is real and loves each one of us individually. We are His “work and [His] glory.”1 This culture espouses the concept of equal worth. There is no recognition of caste or class. We are, after all, brothers and sisters, spirit children of our heavenly parents—literally. There is no prejudice or “us versus them” mentality in the greatest of all cultures. We are all “us.” We are all “them.” We believe that we are responsible and accountable for ourselves, one another, the Church, and our world. Responsibility and accountability are important factors in our growth.” 

So when we send our children out into the world, wouldn't we want them to take that culture with them to start their own family with the culture of your ancestors and also with the culture of Christ mixed in together. To make a family culture that brings happiness and joy to you and your child's family and for future generations. I know that it can be hard to get rid of some of those traditions or some parts of the culture that has “always been” but I can promise you if you put in the work and the effort to change your family's culture to include the culture of Christ then your family will be blessed for generations to come. There are a lot of scriptures that talk about how someone was righteous or wicked and so his descendants even up to his third or fourth generation would be blessed or punished. A couple of these scriptures are 

D&C 98:30 And then if thou wilt spare him, thou shalt be rewarded for thy arighteousness; and also thy children and thy children’s children unto the third and fourth generation.

2 Nephi 26:9  But the Son of Righteousness shall aappear unto them; and he shall bheal them, and they shall have cpeace with him, until dthree generations shall have passed away, and many of the efourth generation shall have passed away in righteousness.

To finish up I just wanted to let you know that earlier in my life I didn't think I was missing anything. I thought that everything was just fine but when I look back now I know what my family and I were missing. We were missing the light of Christ. I know for me putting forth the effort and work to live the culture of Christ has been worth every bit of hardship. Something I believe every family should read is The Family: A Proclamation to the World.

Alright thanks for sticking with me till the end! Let me know what your thoughts are and also let me know about the different cultures that you have in your family.