Short Stories and Essays
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE TEMPLE?
[The following essay came from pondering the importance of temples on September 5, 2021.]
How important is the temple to the Lord? Temple learning, temple worship, and temple covenant-making are essential parts of our Heavenly Father’s plan for helping his children to return home to Him. The temple centers us on the institution of the family. Inside the peace and serenity of the temple is where righteous families are created. A clean and pure young man and a clean and pure young woman go into the temple, and they come out as husband and wife, committed to one another for all eternity. Later, it is again in the temple where additional family members are linked to one another forever. The temple sealings, first husband to wife and wife to husband, followed by parents to children and children to parents, tie us together as a family on this side of the veil—the mortal side, and also hereinafter on the other side of the veil—the immortal side, so long as we are faithful to our temple covenants. Temple learning, temple worship, and temple ordinances inspire within us an eternal perspective about life, and assure us that we are a part of God’s immediate family forever.