Family Scripture Study: 5 Scripture Lessons from the Mothers of the Strippling Warriors
This is Nancy, and she and I go way back to the days that we both worked at EFY (Especially for Youth) together. She is AWESOME. Everyone that knows her LOVES her. She is a kind, gracious and capable woman. And you always will feel that she is one of your greatest cheerleaders. She never holds back a compliment, and you always feel good when you are around her.
So, with that kind of intro… I believe that she is worth listening to. She has some really important things figured out.
Nancy served a mission to Lithuania, graduated from BYU in Family Science, taught seminary full-time, and taught a “Strengthening Families Program” for the state of Utah to troubled families and tutored mothers whose children were in the foster care system to learn the skill to have their children returned to them.
Nancy blogs at Potlucks on the Porch
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5 Scripture Study Lessons
From the Mothers of the
Stripling Warriors
Family scripture study is one of those small and simple things we are asked to do daily.
Since it’s small and simple, it should be easy to accomplish effectively every day, right? Haha! That’s what I thought before I had children who have a tendency to giggle and punch each other the whole time!!
One day, during my personal study, the Mothers of the Strippling warriors taught me a lesson that changed my life. Even though I’d read and heard the story many times, hundreds it seems :), this time it changed my feeling that family study was a slight irritant, into a quest to make it important and meaningful.
In Alma 56:47 we read, the Stripling Warriors “had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.” In the next verse they are quoted saying: “We do not doubt our mothers knew it.”
The faith and teaching of the mothers molded these young men to have great faith, courage, selflessness, exact obedience, respect, confidence, and the ability to work hard.
Also, their mother’s faith and teachings kept them safe and alive in the battles they faced.
I believe it was NOT just one big lesson that blessed these young men, but many teaching moments including family scripture study, family home evening, family prayer (the Stripling warriors may have even giggled or punched each other through a few of these times too… but their mothers just kept the course).
Like the mothers of the Stripling Warriors, we all want more that anything for our children to survive in the battles of their lives.
Here are 5 principles they teach us, women to women, about motherhood and teaching:
1.Teaching our children in the home makes a great difference in the world.
The principles those mothers taught have rippled through time. Now millions and millions have read and been inspired by the outcome of their teaching.
Consider this ripple effect:
The mothers taught their sons (and I’m sure their daughters)— who lived and obeyed their teaching— they inspired Helaman by their knowledge and example— Helaman wrote this to Captain Moroni— and we have a copy of this letter in the Book of Mormon, which millions have read.
Their influence goes on, even more than 2,000 years after they taught their own children. Think of it… our effective study and teaching can ripple through generations also.
2.The seemingly small and insignificant things we do as mothers are much more significant than they seem.
In 1865, the poet William Ross Wallace wrote, “the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”
Satan knows this too.
The adversary wants motherhood to look insignificant and small precisely because it IS so significant. Satan wants our destruction, and also our children’s; therefore, he attacks the role of mothers because he knows the power of our influence.
We fight by teaching and training our children.
3. We must make sure our children know that we know.
We must teach and testify of Jesus Christ, His Atonement, and the power of His deliverance.
These mothers taught their children “if they did not doubt, God would deliver them” (Alma 56:47, italics and bold added). They taught that God delivers us in physical and spiritual battles through His power, and our faith.
Faith in Jesus Christ, and the power of His Atonement was at the very core of their teaching, and the center of their hearts and lives. The Atonement really is the power of deliverance. He delivered the Stripling Warriors more than 2,000 years ago; and will deliver us in our battles today as we exercise faith in Him, just as He did for them.
The Stripling Warriors knew that their mothers knew. We must use every opportunity to make sure our children know that WE know.
That is a gift of armor we can give them.
4. Our children are STRENGTHENED and EMPOWERED by opportunities to teach and share their testimonies during scripture study and Family Home Evening.
If they practice doing this, like the Stripling Warriors, they will have courage, faith and boldness to testify to those they may otherwise be intimidated by. The S.W. shared their knowledge and desires to Helaman who was much older and more powerful than they were (See Alma 56:46).
Our children can be just as brave, especially if they have practice.
5. The war that began in the Premortal life rages on. Family scripture study and prayer arms and prepares our children to face the battles of their lives.
This story can help us triumph in the fierce battles today. We know that our children face battles of the most dangerous type, even battle for their souls. Those who fight with Satan have not forgotten us from the premortal world, and there are many traps they set for us, and our youth.
Like the Striplng warriors, our children, will face tough battles at a very young age (see vs.46). Consistently having family scripture study and prayer is a very powerful force to keep them safe. I can think of nothing that I want more, than for my children to be safe and survive these battles of their lives.
Is family study easy?
Not always! Will it always be perfect? No. It’s all about the consistency, and remembering the big perspective of why we do it.
Since this site is full of wonderful mothers who have tried various methods, please share any ideas that may help other mothers who are searching for new ideas!
What motivates and helps you study the scriptures with your family?
Great article – enjoyed the insights! You may want to run a spellcheck though. Stripling – not Stippling or Strippling.
What motivates me is personal prayers for our family and the knowledge of the power the scriptures contain for our children.
We struggle because our sons now range from 12-22 and often the resistance to read is strong and “loud” from one son or another. I have felt myself want to give in, take the easy road and just have family prayer. But as I have turned to a silent prayer for assistance with the “resistance” 😉 Heavenly Father has given me the strength needed to go forward in faith. My husband has been a great example too in sharing his insights and love of the scriptures with our boys.
One day at a time, consistent and seeking God’s help. With His help all things ARE possible!!
Thank you for your wonderful insights. Just what I needed to read today.
Beth
Thank you, Beth, for your beautiful comment! What a great example you are of persistence when it can be so difficult.
I really needed to read this! It is SO easy to give up, but this motivates me to be a little better.
(As a side note, Nancy, I think we were in the same ward in college before your mission! 🙂 Did you go to UVSC? )
I did way back in 1995 or 96 before I transferred to BYU. I remember a Shannon in that ward (College Terrace, I think)! Was it you? If so, I’m glad to “run into you :)” again!
YES!!! So happy to run into you again too! You have a beautiful family!!!
Great reminders Nancy. That is Justin’s favorite scripture story. I think he had a great teacher, his mother! I think it is always good to remember it’s not always what you teach or how but that you teach and most of the time that is just by example!!!
I would like to quote the part about Satan trying to make motherhood look insignificant and small, but I need to know your last name. I love what you had to say!
What a wonderful post! Since the beginning of the year I’ve been trying something new with our scripture study (I have 4 squirmy boys) and it’s worked really well. Instead of reading sequentially, I’ve been using the Come Follow Me curriculum and studying topically. We have a question for the week (Like, What is the Atonement?) and every day I give each one ONE verse to read and then we talk about how it relates to the question. It is amazing how much more meaningful scripture study has been for our family! And it only takes about 5 minutes.
Thanks for inspiring me to be a better mom with my little warriors! 🙂 I love this blog!
Hi, Shannon; I love your 2013 YW-Curriculum sheets, therefore I bought the pakage and my girls in YW loved them too. My husband got jelous because some of the girls showed the sheets they were getting in YW and he said that is not fair that girls get all the wonderful study aids and guys don’t get anything like that. He’s the SS teacher for 14-17yrs and asked me to share those sheets with him (I told him its for girls only), I am bad.
My question is now after all that if you have the rest of the year and if this sheets can be given to the YM as well. My YW are anxious to get the rest of the year as they are making it a journal and some of them bring them to our seminary class to either add or use it for prayer thought to share with the rest of the class. The good thing about this sheets is that when a girl is absent she’s trying to copy or ask the teacher to give her the scriptures or thoughts she missed.
Thank you for the hard work and all the ideas you share with us teachers, leaders and parents. The Lord will bless you for such great talents. Let me know what’s going to happen and if I can share with my husband the sheets.
Aurora!
That is so great!! I love that the YW are enjoying the sheets that much AND applying the learning principles to seminary!
YES! The rest of the year is coming! The designer who made them JUST had a baby, but she has told me that she will have them done soon.
There are already some sunday school packets too: You can send your husband here to get them.
Thanks Aurora! 🙂
Shannon
Georgia,
Thank you! You can definitely just say, “some girl said”…, but if you do want to know my last name is Boyer :).
Amanda,
What a FABULOUS idea!!!!! Sometimes I think we get so caught up in “getting through” the scriptures that we forget to pause, and get the scriptures through us – which is WAY more important. I LOVE your idea, thanks so much for sharing!!!
Hi there- For some reason I’ve always struggled with this scripture. I think I want the mothers on the battlefield next to their children. But really it’s that it seems incomplete- did the Warriors just rely on their parent’s testimony and serve out of duty? Or was it their own, and their mother’s teachings were just a starting point? I’d like to think it’s the latter.
I agree with all your sentiments that there has to be consistent and meaningful scripture study in order for our children to be strong. I also think there’s another element to it- that our children will not doubt if they see us living the gospel, and we are transparent in our struggles with them, either in the moment or while bearing testimony. It’s pretty obvious to my kids when we “practice what we preach”- and if it’s not obvious, we should be pointing it out so they see how scriptures relate to everyday action, and practice it alongside us. We also have to be upfront and “real” about what things we are overcoming with the Lord’s help. Some of the times that I can recall when I knew my mother “knew it”- when I watched her accept a call to R.S. presidency and she told me of how inadequate she felt but she accepted anyway, or to see her pray everyday for my wayward brother, to watch her rearrange our saturday and holiday schedules to bring meals to those in need that weren’t her friends or even nice to her, their visiting teacher. I saw my mother try and improve and it wasn’t just in her gospel knowledge or insights, it’s what I saw her do, as I was alongside her.
Shannon u are awesome at how to learn more and more about the scriptures… i love ur site… Nancy this is beautiful the way Shannon introduced u to us and then i read this article on u i kinda felt like i needed to look more into the strippling warriors… keep up the many things u have for us Shannon… and ur lil munchkin is adorable….
Very nicely written and informative. Motivational to study the scriptures more. All my babies are grown and gone, now it is easy to see how many mistakes were made along the way. Thanks so much
Orange VA