Saturday, November 23, 2013

Marriage and Family Counsels

Following the counsel structure of the first counsel and the twelve apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ can bring about great success to any marriage or family. Everyone can learn from the brethren of the church. In these counsels, there is a lot accomplished. First the first counselors will express love and appreciation to everyone and help them feel welcome. Second, someone will offer a prayer and seek to know God's will during the meeting. Starting with the prophet, they then, after the first presidency, go from seniority and ask if they have any concerns, comments, or suggestions. This leads into the third step which is discussing until a consensus is formed. They always keep the Lord present in the meeting by trying to do what he would do. After they have made a consensus they end with a closing prayer, seeking to follow thorough with God's will. At the very end they often share refreshments together. Now, how can that help in a marriage or a family. Expressing love and appreciation to either your spouse and your children is very important. This will help them feel your love and know that you care about what they have to say. It also helps them be more willing to share. Starting with an opening prayer is very important. Invite the Spirit to be there because the Spirit is the best teacher. Seeking to know God's will is something that can often be skipped over. God knows each member of the family and is there to help and strengthen the family, not to tear it apart. Once you have done that, allow each person in the family time to share what they need to. Keep in mind what the Lord would do. Once you have made a consensus on why you held the counsel, go ahead and end with a prayer seeking to follow God's will. Now each member of the family should go out seeking to follow God's will and acting on promptings. If they don't act on those promptings then nothing will have come from that counsel. Having refreshments at the end is a great way to relax and just have fun with each other. It can really be a bonding time. Counsel's can be pretty serious sometimes so lightening up is a good thing. This counsel structure kind of reminds me of Family Home Evening. It really brought my family closer together and even though I had five other siblings, we were always all involved. I could always feel the love my parents had for me when they sat down with us. They really payed attention to us when we gave a comment and would comment back to us instead of just moving on. I really believe that by following this counsel structure that the Brethren of the Church of Jesus Christ use, we can really accomplish more than we could have other ways.

1 comment:

  1. I loved learning about the council method as it provides so many connections to the family. One of the steps of the method is the importance of discussing to consensus. Why is this such an important step? How have you seen consensus be reached in your family? When we submit to God and express kindness and love towards others our communication is strengthened. We will be directed to say and do those things which will be most beneficial others. How can you use the council method in this period of your life?

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