Letter and Spirit of the Law

 In Jeremiah 31:31-33 we can see the principle of God wanting us to live the letter of the law in order to help us more fully live the spirit of the law. The children of Israel were given laws, written on stone tablets, that they broke (v 32). They didn't connect those outward performances to anything meaningful, spiritually speaking. The Lord wants these outward practices to change us, spiritually, so that we feel these laws are written on our hearts; that we are living these covenants, not out of "show" to others, but out of our love for God.

Now that I understand this principle better, the connection between Jeremiah 31:31-33 and the revised "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet is unmistakable to me. When I first read the revised copy I was a little bit distraught, thinking "how am I going to teach my kids appropriate standards without any do's and don'ts?  I like the old version because it's like a checklist to me." But once I studied this Come, Follow Me lesson I realized that the Lord wants us to move beyond a "spirituality checklist" and into a mindset of "how am I letting God prevail in my life today."

Pres. Nelson summarized this principle perfectly when he said "When your greatest desire is to let God prevail... so many decisions become easier. So many issues become nonissues! You know how best to groom yourself. You know what to watch and read, where to spend your time, and with whom to associate. You know what you want to accomplish. You know the kind of person you really want to become." (Let God Prevail)

So now that I better understand the principle behind the change, the question is "how do I adapt my parenting in order to embrace these changes?" In his talk, "Jesus Christ is the Strength of Youth", Elder Uchtdorf gives some great counsel. He said "Is it wrong to have rules? Of course not. We all need them every day. But it is wrong to focus only on rules instead of focusing on the Savior. You need to know the whys and the hows and then consider the consequences of your choices."

What I understand from this is that my role as a parent is not to make the decisions for my children, but to teach the principles of the gospel that will then help them make their own decisions based on their own personal revelation and their own understanding of how they can best let God prevail in their life.