What is faith and is it an important part of our family?

My Heavenly Father Loves Me

Whenever I hear the song of a bird,

Or look at the blue, blue sky,

Whenever I feel the rain on my face

Or the wind as it rushes by,

Whenever I touch a velvet rose

Or walk by our lilac tree,

I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world

Heavenly Father created for me.

He gave me my eyes that I might see

The color of butterfly wings.

He gave me my hears that I might hear

The magical sound of things.

He gave me my life, my mind, my heart;

I thank him reverently

For all His creations of which I'm a part.

Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.

(Children's Songbook, Clara W. McMaster, 1961)

How do you know your Heavenly Father loves you? When I was a little girl it was easy for me to imagine a loving Heavenly Father because I had a daddy who loved me. Sometimes I would imagine talking to Heavenly Father like I would talk to my daddy.

(Do you know which one I am in this picture? That's me in the blue. And, by the way, my dad painted the picture that's in the background)

As I grew older my faith in Heavenly Father grew stronger. How does that happen? What is faith? The dictionary says faith is belief that is not based on proof. The scriptures say that faith is hope for things that are not seen, but which are true. Hebrews 11:1, Alma 32:21

Another important thing to know about faith is that it moves you to action. If you really believe Heavenly Father is real and loves you, you will pray to Him. You can't see Him, but you pray because you have faith. The more you pray, the stronger your faith in Heavenly Father will become.

Can you think of another example of faith moving you to action?

Faith is a gift. You can't buy faith. You can't wish for it. How do you get faith? Bruce R. McConkie, who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles when I was a lot younger, said this:

"Faith is a gift of God bestowed as a reward for personal righteousness.
It is always given when righteousness is present,
and the greater measure of obedience to God's laws
the greater will be the endowment of faith."

I understand this to mean, as you are obedient to God's commandments you will be rewarded with faith. That makes sense because you are showing faith by being obedient, so your faith gets stronger the more obedient you are.

Try an experiment. Pick a commandment like honoring your mother and father or loving one another (your brothers and sisters). Really work on it. Pray about it. See if you feel Heavenly Father's and Jesus' love. See if your faith in Them becomes stronger.

If everyone in your family was praying together and individually every morning and every night; if everyone in your family was really trying to keep the commandments and have more faith; if you were all doing your best to love each other and to say "I'm sorry" when you make mistakes;

Do you think that would be a good thing? Why?

How can having faith help your family?