Developing divine attributes
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In April of 1830 the Lord testified that the Book of Mormon contains "the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ" (Doctrine and Covenants 20:9). A foundational teaching of the gospel is that through the plan of redemption not only can we dwell again with our Heavenly Father but we can become as He is. President Spencer W. Kimball stated, "The teachings of Christ that we should become perfect were not mere rhetoric. He meant literally that it is the right of mankind to become like the Father and like the Son, having overcome human weaknesses and developed attributes of divinity." (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball, p. 26).
Some of those qualities and characteristics we need to develop deal with family relationships and are best exemplified in the Book of Mormon. In our existence prior to coming to earth, we were children in our Heavenly Father's family. Here on earth is the first opportunity we have to become parents in a family relationship. That family relationship can continue after this life and into eternity through the sealing ordinances of the priesthood in holy temples.
In becoming a parent either in mortality or in the eternal worlds, we need to acquire the divine attributes of parenthood that our heavenly parents possess. How do we learn to be that divine parent while here on earth?
The best window we have for viewing the Father's attributes is through His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. As the Savior declared, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9).
Jesus asked and answered, "What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am" (3 Nephi 27:27).
Understanding that Christ is the embodiment of the Father's attributes that we need to acquire, it is His example we are to follow. How can Jesus be the example for us to emulate as a parent? The Book of Mormon clearly shows the Lord as a divine parent and gives examples of others who are striving to partake in that aspect of His divinity.
Christ as a Divine Parent
In the Book of Mormon, Christ is directly called the Father 41 times. (Susan Easton Black, Finding Christ through the Book of Mormon, p. 20-21) and indirectly numerable times. Regarding this title, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve stated, "There are ways in which Christ is so united with His Father that in some assignments He rightfully plays a fatherly role and rightfully bears the title of Father in doing so." (Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, p. 183.)
King Benjamin taught his people who entered into a covenant with the Lord that "because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith in his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters" (Mosiah 5:7). In our covenant relationship with the Lord, we become His children and He our Father.
Parenting by Covenants
As the Father of this covenant with us, it is evident that Jesus works by covenants. Even in the great pre-mortal council, Jesus as the Son made His own covenant with His Father in relationship to His role in the plan of salvation.
Moroni closes out his account by testifying of the role the Atonement plays in this covenant, that we are "sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot" (Moroni 10:33). Because of that promise obtained from the Father, Jesus is able to work out our salvation and make intercession for us.
Christ has the power to make intercession for us based upon His merits, and He in turn covenants with us so that we can apply His redeeming blood. It is through this covenant that He becomes the Father of the covenant and of us, His children.
What do the covenants do then to help one's children? The effect of the covenant is to seek after them, to "cry from the dust; yea, even repentance," to "make strong in their faith, unto the remembering of my covenants" (2 Nephi 3:20-21).
In the Book of Mormon, parents' hearts and desires turn toward their children and posterity, and they seek for their welfare. Through our covenants and faith, we can obtain promises from the Lord and bless our children and intercede on their behalf.
Parenting by Teaching
Another aspect of the Savior's divine nature that parents can learn from the Book of Mormon is His teaching. We learn not just from the fact that He taught but from the way in which He taught. The Lord's pattern is to teach and instruct so that His children can then use their agency wisely. He does this not only by telling us what we should do but also by teaching doctrines and principles so we know why we should do it. In fact, the Lord expects us to follow His way and keep His commandments only "after having made known unto them the plan of redemption" (Alma 12:32). The Book of Mormon testifies that it is "the Lord thy God who teacheth thee to profit" (1 Nephi 20:17), for "the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do" (2 Nephi 32:3). Many times the Savior teaches directly by His words, or voice, to His children in the covenant.
The Lord showed His covenant children the right way most effectively by His example. Nephi taught the reason Jesus was baptized was to "set the example before them" (2 Nephi 31:9). When the Savior appeared to the Nephites, He immediately allowed them to have a sensory knowledge of Him by feeling and seeing the prints in His hands and feet. The multitude "did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety" (3 Nephi 11:15). He then showed them "after this manner ye shall baptize" (3 Nephi 11:27) and "after this manner therefore pray ye" (3 Nephi 13:9), demonstrating not just by word but by example what they were to do. In giving instructions on the sacrament, He said, "This shall ye always observe to do, even as I have done" (3 Nephi 18:6). He again told them, "As I have prayed among you even so shall ye pray" (3 Nephi 18:16), and they were to do "that which ye have seen me do" (3 Nephi 18:24).
Poor examples that parents set can have the opposite, detrimental effect, as when Jacob reminded some fathers of their "children, how that ye have grieved their hearts because of the example that ye have set before them" and that "because of your filthiness, (ye) bring your children unto destruction" (Jacob 3:10).
The righteous examples of parents found in the Book of Mormon greatly influenced their children.
Parents in the Book of Mormon taught their children and worked by covenants to help them. These aspects of parenting were modeled by the Savior Himself, who is an example of divine parenthood in His role as Father of the covenant. The Book of Mormon has many other attributes of the Lord that pertain to parenting and deserve exploring—for example, His mercy and forgiveness, His tireless labors and nourishing, and His techniques for gathering in those who are lost. Most of all, consider His love for His children, which is the driving force behind His efforts. Jesus truly represents the Father and shows us our example of parenting.
This article was excerpted from Brett L. Holbrook's address given at the 2003 Sidney B. Sperry Symposium at BYU. Brother Holbrook is a Church Educational System coordinator in Newport Beach, Calif.
