Parents and Stewardship

[zil]

10 hours ago, Anddenex said:

Certain aspects of responsibility may change, stewardship remains. I can't remember, and can't find it either, where in this past General Conference a talk spoke of a son who was disciplining his child, and the son's mother said something to the nature, "Son, you are being to harsh in disciplining your child," and the son's retort was, "I will discipline my child as I see fit," and her response back was, "Yes, so am I." Does anyone else remember this?

I just read this yesterday morning (and even thought of posting it here).   Saturday morning session, "His Daily Guiding Hand" by M. Joseph Brough, Second Counselor in the YM General Presidency.

[The Folk Prophet]

22 hours ago, Carborendum said:

1. Financial assistance has nothing to do with stewardship in the gospel sense.

Yes it does.

At the risk of sounding like @Traveler here I'm going to say: I get the sense that a lot of people don't understand what stewardship is here.

Our stewardship is primarily our lives. We have been granted our lives by God. We are responsible for what we do with them. We are responsible for how we interact with others. That is part of our stewardship. Our lives, our families, our callings, anything we've been given by God, is part of our stewardship. Those we have been given either temporarily or more permanently are within our stewardship.

The specifics of what we are to do and how we are to do it within our stewardship are individual, up to revelation, and about making right and good choices. Just as with parenting one cannot say that stewardship dictates that we spank or not. That is irrelevant to stewardship. What isn't irrelevant is that we make the best choice to do the best we can to live up to the accountability we have been given as parents. That is how we face stewardship of any given thing.

That does not change when our children leave us to live their own lives. We are connected to them. They are part of our lives, and we will be held accountable for how we interact with them. The fact that we choose or do not choose to help them out financial based on various factors is not the point. The fact that we make a responsible, good choice involving them, doing our best to live up to that accountability, is the point. And that is true for all people, things, etc., that we interact with. The way children differ, of course, is that we have an eternal connection to them where we are sealed to them and they to us. That bond makes the level of accountability we have regarding them different. Yes, the nature of that accountability changes when they become adults. But it will never disappear.

Stewardship, as a general principle, is not about authority. It is about responsibility. One does not have authority over one's bishop. One DOES have the responsibility to sustain, love, care for, support, and work with that bishop. That is still stewardship.

Stewardship relates to things we are given from God. These things do not belong to us. They belong to God. But we have been made stewards of them by them having come into our lives. And we stand accountable for how we interact and deal with those things given us. The principle is understanding that we do not own these things, and that we will be accountable for how we handle them.

In other words, as I've said before, stewardship and agency are the same thing. We are stewards of what we have been given. We are agents of what we have been given. Responsible for things that have been given to us by God.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, The Folk Prophet said:

Yes it does.

At the risk of sounding like @Traveler here I'm going to say: I get the sense that a lot of people don't understand what stewardship is here...

I don't really have a problem with anything you said.  I just don't see that as what Z was talking about.  (He can correct me if I'm wrong).  But regardless, this is what I was talking about.

There is the stewardship to serve others, etc. just like you said and to sustain our leaders, etc.  But what I believed the OP was talking about was that stewardship which provides authority as well.  The difference is the revelation we receive for others as parents or bishops vs that which we receive as home teachers.  What is the level of responsibility that the listener has when they receive counsel from each of these?

As children grow up and move out of the house, it would be wise for them to listen to the sage advice of their parents.  But when they are married, living their own lives, they don't have the level of responsibility to obey as they once did.  And parents don't have the authority to press as hard when they refuse.

It may be that we're splitting hairs.  But that is what I'm talking about.

[The Folk Prophet]

1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

I don't really have a problem with anything you said.  I just don't see that as what Z was talking about.  (He can correct me if I'm wrong).  But regardless, this is what I was talking about.

There is the stewardship to serve others, etc. just like you said and to sustain our leaders, etc.  But what I believed the OP was talking about was that stewardship which provides authority as well.  The difference is the revelation we receive for others as parents or bishops vs that which we receive as home teachers.  What is the level of responsibility that the listener has when they receive counsel from each of these?

As children grow up and move out of the house, it would be wise for them to listen to the sage advice of their parents.  But when they are married, living their own lives, they don't have the level of responsibility to obey as they once did.  And parents don't have the authority to press as hard when they refuse.

It may be that we're splitting hairs.  But that is what I'm talking about.

Per the OP, the question is whether parents still receive revelation for their children later in life. I would dare say that whereas it does diminish, and whereas it must be asked for, that there is a stewardship related connection that gives the father the right to receive revelation for his child later in life.

But really that's a question of authority, not stewardship. They are related. Authority is a stewardship. If we are given that authority then we have that stewardship. Parents have authority over their at home children that they do not when they are grown and have left home. So that stewardship changes, because the authority is no longer given to the parent. Our stewardship only extends to those things we are given. So I think my points still apply.

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, The Folk Prophet said:

Per the OP, the question is whether parents still receive revelation for their children later in life. I would dare say that whereas it does diminish, and whereas it must be asked for, that there is a stewardship related connection that gives the father the right to receive revelation for his child later in life.

But really that's a question of authority, not stewardship. They are related. Authority is a stewardship. If we are given that authority then we have that stewardship. Parents have authority over their at home children that they do not when they are grown and have left home. So that stewardship changes, because the authority is no longer given to the parent. Our stewardship only extends to those things we are given. So I think my points still apply.

Well, now we come to it.  In the end, I think we're saying the same thing.