The Lord Measures a Family's Success

The Lord measures a family's success
By the quality of its relationships
As it's the principles of faith that impress
Unto the fulfillment of stewardships

Love, compassion, and service
Midst repentance and forgiveness
Are but fruits of the family's purpose
Founded on faith, prayers, and wholesomeness

Ideally, the father presides
In love and righteousness
There to be an example and guide
Of what is noble inside us

Ideally, the mother nurtures
And puts what's pure into the home
That as children look to their futures
Unto wickedness they'll not roam

Let us go about and accumulate
What is pleasing unto the Lord
Not as concerned with an heritage of estate
But what to heaven- family virtue does afford

Families
"The proclamation teaches that 'successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.' In other words, the Lord measures the success of a family by the quality of its relationships. In a home where faith, love, and forgiveness are dominant, members find joy and satisfaction in being together. Ideally the father presides in love and righteousness, provides the necessities of life, and protects the family while the mother is primarily responsible for the nurturing of the children. In contrast, the world often measures family success by the accumulation of worldly things and the size of the estate that is passed on to the children."

~ Merrill J. Bateman, "Eternal Family," Ensign, 115