Providing Stability and Hope

The last two things that followers need from their leaders is stability and hope. [Read part 1 and part 2 first.]

Stability

Providing a solid foundation, being someone others can count on in a time of need, provides followers with security, strength, support and peace. Let your core values be stable, to buffer for times of change.

Hooray for righteous fathers and husbands who give stability to our homes, good teachers who give our children constant support and encouragement, and great women like you who do what is right consistently in your lives.

Nothing creates stability like transparency or being open about where we are going and how we are doing. This applies in all types of organizations. Families who know a little of the family budget can help support financial decisions, vacation choices, and purchases large and small. Couples who talk openly and often about goals near and far, and even hopes and dreams will strengthen their marriage. Wards who pull together to support and help one another create a stabilizing unity.

Studying the scriptures daily, praying and holding family home evening and counsels give stability to our lives and our families. These small simple practices add up of the years and make us strong for times of adversity.

Sharing our lives with each other as sisters will strengthen and stabilize each of us. And we know that happens in Relief Society meetings, and visiting teaching and in service to one another.

Sister Beck as the leader of our Relief Society just reiterated:

This society has at its very core the responsibility to help sisters increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and seek out and help others who are in need. Through Relief Society, sisters can receive answers to their questions and be blessed by the combined spiritual power of all the sisters. Relief Society validates the true and eternal nature of daughters of God. It is a sacred trust, a guiding light, and a system of watchcare that teaches and inspires women to be strong and immovable. Its motto, “Charity never faileth,” is embodied in all good women. April Conference link

And never failing is about as stable as you can get!

Hope

We want stability in the moment and hope in the future. Direction, faith and guidance too.

We find that in the doctrines of the gospel, in the words of our prophets, and in our experiences with the Spirit.

We can provide that for those who follow us, especially our families. In this world of chaos and complexity we need to share our testimonies with family and others as we have just been counseled to do. We need to initiate good things in our lives and families and not just react to immediate needs.

President Uchtdorf’s talks always speak of hope and something else closely related...

May we ever remember the lesson of Kirtland and hold on a little longer—even when things look bleak. Know and remember this: the Lord loves you. He remembers you. And He will ever sustain those who “endure in faith to the end”. January 2010

and this...

Love is what inspired our Heavenly Father to create our spirits; it is what led our Savior to the Garden of Gethsemane to make Himself a ransom for our sins. Love is the grand motive of the plan of salvation; it is the source of happiness, the ever-renewing spring of healing, the precious fountain of hope.

As we extend our hands and hearts toward others in Christlike love, something wonderful happens to us. Our own spirits become healed, more refined, and stronger. We become happier, more peaceful, and more receptive to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit. April 2010

and once again...

Love is the healing balm that repairs rifts in personal and family relationships. It is the bond that unites families, communities, and nations. Love is the power that initiates friendship, tolerance, civility, and respect. It is the source that overcomes divisiveness and hate. Love is the fire that warms our lives with unparalleled joy and divine hope. Love should be our walk and our talk. October 2009

Hope is directly tied to love, the Lord’s for us, as our ultimate leader, and ours for those who follow us. And that brings us back to the first attribute in what followers want, compassion. It is the most direct way we can be like our Savior.

Sisters, think about your leadership qualities, about those who follow you either in the home, extended family, at school or in the workplace.

Strive to the kind that builds the trust, compassion, stability and hope in others lives.

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