ONE VERSE AT A TIME
I have always been drawn to different methods of education that strengthen family bonds. Recently as I have studied more in depth the patriarchal order—a son following his righteous father—I could not help but love this way of reading scriptures together as a family … one verse at a time.
Isn’t it natural for children to look up to their father as an example—seeking his approval and acceptance? Research has found that the attention of every child—no matter the age—is more focused when a father reads every other verse in the Scriptures, and children try to emulate his reading. They also will wait for their turn in hopes that a compliment from their father will follow. Children will also learn not only pronunciation and enunciation but soon will feel the emotion and add it to the scriptural stories and doctrines they hear their father present.
Turning the hearts of our children to their fathers and forefathers is not always easy. The world is constantly distracting those relationships and replacing the father’s influence with that of worldly heroes. If rebellion begins in the heart, our children’s lives wander because their heart wanders.
In the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord instructed the brethren to put “their homes in order” to avoid the power of the devil. Order begins as soon as we look at the righteous fathers and start to take their words more seriously—obeying and submitting.
As I read how this simple family scripture structure —reading one verse at a time, rotating with dad—turned hearts and strengthened a bond, what else could be simpler than this in capturing the hearts of our children and posterity?
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