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Commitment
to marriage and family was emphasized at Tuesday’s devotional at
Brigham Young University-Idaho by David Magleby,
dean of the College of Family Home and Social Science at BYU in Provo,
Utah.
Magleby began by speaking about the powerful role the
family plays. He quoted former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher,
who said, “The family is the building block of society. It is a
nursery, a school, a hospital, a leisure center, a place of refuge and a
place of rest. It encompasses the whole of society. It fashions our
beliefs; it is the preparation for the rest of our life.”
He
said that a vicious attack is being made on the sanctity of marriage and
family through a variety of ways, many times indirectly.
Citing
the Kaiser Family Foundation, he said that as much as three-quarters of
prime time television programs have sexual content.
“These
programs over time have a way of desensitizing our moral thinking, making
what is wrong appear normal or acceptable. . . .
The best way to avoid the slippery slope of the media mocking the sacred,
is to simply avoid all programming inconsistent with our values and urge
others we love to do the same,” he said.
He
urged students to create their own pattern for a successful marriage,
encouraging them to look at challenges as opportunities for growth and
development.
“Marriage,
like all other aspects of our Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness,
allows us to learn and grow, to progress,” he said. “The
critical thing is what kind of relationship do we want, and are we willing
to pursue this eternal relationship in the Lord’s way, with real
commitment for time and all eternity?”
Many
people are afraid to commit to marriage because they don’t have a
clear sense of how life will unfold, he said. To combat this, he encouraged
students to replace fear with faith.
He
said it is important to keep trying in a marriage relationship, and
understand that everyone has the power to build their own families and
accomplish change.
“My
marriage and my family are great blessings in my life,” he said. “I
am grateful for them. In these relationships I have changed and grown and
have found the love and support needed to make those changes. The same can
be true for all of us. Moreover, investing in these relationships will pay
eternal dividends.”
Devotionals
are broadcast live on KBYI 100.5 FM Tuesdays at 2 p.m. and are rebroadcast Tuesdays and Sundays at 9 p.m. Next week’s devotional speaker
will be Cecil O. Samuelson, president of BYU and a member of the First
Quorum of Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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