While Nephi was growing up in Jerusalem, he did not know where the Lord would lead him. He grew and learned; he watched and listened. Yet later, when a dangerous task was placed before him, with his father-prophet waiting for his reply, Nephi was able to respond, “I will go and do the thing which the Lord hath commanded…” (1 Nephi 3:7). What had Nephi been taught that made it possible for him to respond in such a way?
Nephi of old and the youth of today live thousands of years apart yet are learning the same lessons from the same Savior at roughly the same age. Somehow Nephi developed spiritual resilience: a trust in Christ strong enough to go and do. What did Nephi know that made him spiritually resilient? Teenagers of today know even more about Christ than Nephi did that day. In their youth, they are also given difficult tasks requiring a faithful response. How can Nephi’s learning process be replicated within modern families?
Nephi gives us the blueprint of his testimony with his own words. By reverse engineering Nephi’s faithful response to his father, parents can better understand what our own children need to know and how to support the building-up of their faith.
“I will” – Find the confidence embedded within your covenants
“Go and do” – Put action behind your beliefs
“For I know” – Focus on why you follow Christ
“He shall prepare” – Trust Christ to lead you toward what you want the most
“That they may accomplish” – Remember the eternal significance of your efforts
Youth need life-size examples from us as parents and teachers of how to implement these principles within a modern context. We cannot make another’s choices, but we can learn to be exactly who our families need us to be. We can have a stronger impact on the spiritual resilience within our families by focusing on humility and prayerfully following the customized direction of the Holy Ghost.
