Why Should Families Study Scriptures Together?

Families, communities, and nations are stronger when parents gather their children together to study the scriptures. The beginning of a new year is an excellent time to develop a new scripture study habit. The family is the core unit of society, and the strength of the family determines the strength of the community and the nation.

The home is the best place for children to learn the gospel because individuals can learn in ways that are not possible in a meeting or class. The new Come, Follow Me – For Individuals and Families manual has numerous suggestions for enhancing family scripture study. 

Use Music: Sing songs that reinforce the principles taught in the scriptures….

Share Meaningful Scriptures: Give family members time to share scripture passages that they have found meaningful during their personal study.

Use Your Own Words: Invite family members to summarize in their own words what they learn from the scriptures you study.

Apply the Scriptures to Your Life: After reading a scripture passage, ask family members to share ways the passage applies to their lives.

Ask a Question: Invite family members to ask a gospel question, and then spend time looking for verses that can help answer the question.

Display a Scripture: Select a verse you find meaningful and display it where family members will see it often. Invite other family members to take turns selecting a scripture to display.

Make a Scripture List: As a family, choose several verses that you would like to discuss during the coming week.

Memorize Scriptures: Select a scripture passage that is meaningful to your family and invite family members to memorize it by repeating it daily or playing a memorization game.

Share Object Lessons: Find objects that relate to the gospel principles in the scripture passages you are reading as a family. Invite family members to talk about how each object relates to the teachings in the scriptures.

Pick a Topic: Let family members take turns choosing a topic that the family will study together. Use the Topical Guide, the Bible Dictionary, or the Guide to the Scriptures (scriptures. ChurchofJesusChrist.org) to find scripture passages about the topic.

Draw a Picture: Read a few verses as a family, and then allow time for family members to draw something that relates to what you read. Spend time discussing one another’s drawings.

Act Out a Story: After reading a [scripture] story, invite family members to act it out. Afterward, talk about how the story relates to the things that you are experiencing individually and as a family.

No family should expect to adopt all of the suggestions immediately. However, every family should be capable of selecting one or two suggestions to internalize each week. By utilizing the suggestions, a family can bring variety and even excitement into their scripture study.

President Russell M. Nelson said: “I promise that as you diligently work to remodel your home into a center of gospel learning, over time your Sabbath days will truly be a delight. Your children will be excited to learn and to live the Savior’s teachings, and the influence of the adversary in your life and in your home will decrease. Changes in your family will be dramatic and sustaining” (“Becoming Exemplary Latter-day Saints,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 113).

Since the family is the core unit of society, the most important thing to do is to strengthen it. One of the best ways to build strength in a family is to study the scriptures together. Parents can strengthen their family as well as their community and nation by gathering their children together for family scripture study.