I feel that I also needed the reminder to be constantly teaching (by example) to my children. It’s so overwhelming but preparing our children for temptations they will one day face is so important.

I think my favorite paragraph was this one: “By “moral discipline,” I mean self-discipline based on moral standards. Moral discipline is the consistent exercise of agency to choose the right because it is right, even when it is hard. It rejects the self-absorbed life in favor of developing character worthy of respect and true greatness through Christlike service (see Mark 10:42–45). The root of the word discipline is shared by the word disciple, suggesting to the mind the fact that conformity to the example and teachings of Jesus Christ is the ideal discipline that, coupled with His grace, forms a virtuous and morally excellent person.”

I like the reference to the root of the words discipline and disciple and the thought that exercising discipline will include Christlike service. In addition, I think the inclusion of the importance of grace reminds me that we won’t be perfect in our efforts, but we need to keep trying. I also liked the sentence about “constant teaching, mostly be example.” It’s so true that no matter what we say, what we do is what our children see and will be learning from. And, we must make an effort to constantly reinforce gospel principles that are taught by following up with providing experiences for our children to become disciples of Christ through service and in teaching them to recognize when the Holy Ghost is teaching them individually.

Sometimes I do worry about the big scary world that we are sending our kids into. Will they be able to make good choices, will they have the strength like President Faust, to stand strong and be different in order to uphold the gospel standards?

I think Elder Christofferson’s talk has given me hope. We have the ability at home to help instil in our children a “moral compass”. And as we do as Elder Bednar taught in his talk, to express love and show it, to bear testimony and live it and be consistent, we are doing as Elder Christofferson advises, “Our teaching should draw upon our own faith and focus first and foremost on instilling faith in God in the rising generation……This requires more than an occasional reference to one or another gospel principle. There must be constant teaching, mostly by example.”

All the best everyone!

I also liked how Elder Christofferson discussed therapy to help people avoid or cope with addictions, but for selfish reasons. My husband is a psychologist who specializes in (what typically are) men’s issues, including pornography and other addictions. His work is very much needed in this world, and also, like Elder Christofferson said, there must be an exercise of discipline.

“What they forget is that the intelligent use of agency requires knowledge of the truth, of things as they really are (see D&C 93:24). Without that, young people can hardly be expected to understand and evaluate the alternatives that come before them. “

His quote by Pres. Eyring about the Gospel going down into the hearts of our children by the power of the Holy Ghost really touched me. I remember Elder Eyring speaking at Pres. Hinckley’s funeral and telling the story of when Pres. Hinckley expressed to him his concern as to how that is done–how to take the knowledge from our brain to our heart. If it is in our hearts we will truly do–we won’t just talk the talk, we’ll walk the walk.

Thanks again for given us this opportunity and thanks to everyone for your wonderful comments. So much to ponder.

I loved how he talked about the armies of Helaman. Along with the description of Captain Moroni, it is what I have always hoped for my kids to be like. They set the standard quite high! As he says, “Here we find a standard for what should happen in our homes and in the Church.”

Interestingly, we had a bit of a lesson in discipline this week, in an unexpected way. In church on Sunday, the first speaker got up and explained how her assignment came about. She was asked about a month previous if she would be willing to speak. She was happy to have such a great amount of notice. However, there was a catch. The bishop asked her to pick something in her own life that she felt like she really ought to raise the bar on. Then, for the next month, work on that thing. At the end of the month, she was to speak to us on her experience.

She gave a great talk about prayer. I got to thinking about what a wonderful challenge she was given by the bishop. What would I have chosen and how diligently would I have done it, knowing that I would have to report back? Then, the obvious dawned on me–one doesn’t have to be given this invitation by the bishop in order to do it! With discipline, as Elder Christofferson talked about, we can choose to raise the bar on something ourselves.

I think that is perhaps one reason why this book club works well. We are given the opportunity to report back. Often, having that little bit of pressure from accountablility is the prod we need to make changes.