A Diabolically Tactical Fight

My studies this week brought me to a talk by Elder Ballard in which he mentions the attack on the family.

“Let me say again that the family is the main target of evil’s attack and must therefore be the main point of our protection and defense. As I said once before, when you stop and think about it from a diabolically tactical point of view, fighting the family makes sense to Satan. . .”

“When the devil wants to strike out and disrupt the essence of God’s work, it attacks the family. It does so by attempting to

• Disregard the law of chastity
• Confuse gender
• Desensitize violence
• Make crude and blasphemous language the norm
• And to make immoral and deviant behavior seem like the rule rather than the exception.”

I must take a moment to comment on Elder Ballard's use of "it" when referring to the devil. Not once, but twice. 

BAM, Elder Ballard, BAM!!!

The belief in or use of these have all come to bear in my household since my daughter left the church and moved back home from school. I have had to be bold in making known to her what will not be tolerated in my home. In addition to being bold about our standards and setting boundaries, we have had to be bold in getting our daughter to believe that we still love her no-matter-what! 

Elder Hales tells us how we should handle people who criticize our beliefs: “we must love them. We do not feel we are better than they are. Rather, we desire with our love to show them a better way-the way of Jesus Christ.”

Love. It always comes down to love. We don't have to agree on everything to love one another.

------------------------

References:

(Elder M. Russell Ballard, Let Our Voices Be Heard, October 2003 Gen. Conf.)

(Elder Robert D. Hales, Christian Courage - The Price of Discipleship, October 2008 Gen. Conf.)