Recently, President Monson posted a message to his Facebook page, reminding us that families should be the place where we show the most love. Too often our homes are filled with anger or bitterness or impatience. Too often we fail to forgive those closest to us because their words or actions can cut the deepest.
But, in these moments, we should remember that our Savior told us the greatest commandment of all was to love God and to love others with all our heart and soul.
President Monson shared this message, which is excerpted from his April 2014 conference talk:
Some of our greatest opportunities to demonstrate our love will be within the walls of our own homes. Love should be the very heart of family life, and yet sometimes it is not. There can be too much impatience, too much arguing, too many fights, too many tears.
Lamented President Gordon B. Hinckley: “Why is it that the [ones] we love [most] become so frequently the targets of our harsh words? Why is it that [we] sometimes speak as if with daggers that cut to the quick?”
The answers to these questions may be different for each of us, and yet the bottom line is that the reasons do not matter. If we would keep the commandment to love one another, we must treat each other with kindness and respect.
Of course there will be times when discipline needs to be meted out. Let us remember, however, the counsel found in the Doctrine and Covenants—namely, that when it is necessary for us to reprove another, we afterward show forth an increase of love.