Skip navigation

Chat with us

Chat With a Mormon Online

Your privacy is important to us. Please read our Privacy Policy.

  • Cancel

You may also call to speak with a missionary over the phone. Please call: 1-888-537-6600 (in U.S. and Canada only).

How can we develop greater harmony in our homes?

  • Michael Fuhriman

    Having raised 8 children I have learned a lot about how to have greater harmony in our homes. First, make sure that you love your spouse and show it in the home. Second, teach of Jesus Christ and show your love and appreciation for Him. Third, read the scriptures and pray as a family every day. Forth, attend all your church meetings and serve faithfully in your church callings. Fifth, teach your children about choices and consequences. Make sure that they understand the difference between guessing and choosing. Choosing involves knowledge where guessing does not. Give them knowledge of options and their consequences. Sixth, give time to the family in general as well as special time to each individual in the family. Seventh, don't be selfish. Love as Jesus loves. Eighth, express your love in word and deed, consistently. One can't go too far wrong if ones does these 8 things. Show more

  • Jill

    First I want to be the first one to admit that my home is never perfectly harmonious, but i can feel the difference when I am doing certain things in my live and in the life of my family. I know that when I am reading my scriptures, saying my prayers, listening to uplifting music, attending my church meetings and meeting the challenges of my callings in the church, I keep myself distracted from so many things going on in the world and when my family is doing the same, the spirit is so much better in our home. We tend to have more patience with each other, and the fighting goes down considerably. My children argue less with me and with each other. The air is just lighter. When we work together, we actually have fun. It doesn't seem to be such a chore. I love it when I can live closer to my Father in Heaven. It improves everything around me and not just in my home. Show more

  • Megan Cosgriff

    There are many ways in which we can keep harmony in our homes such as daily prayers, both as a family unit and as individuals, daily scripture study and by loving one another. If we invite Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ into our homes and our lives by living a modest and chaste lifestyle, then we will find our homes filled with harmony. Show more

  • Walter

    My wife and I have learned how to recognize the enmity of pride which shows up as a wedge that attempts to divide us and alienate us from each other. The moment that either of us starts to feel cool toward the other we know that we are in the throes of a love killing temptation. These things ordinarily happen by accident or subconsciously, but we have chosen to end such temptations consciously. That's because we like loving each other and don't want to fall out of that. The short answer as to how we can develop greater harmony in our home is that we repent of pride as soon as we recognize it; and we consciously decide to soften our hearts instead of harden them. This usually leads to soft and kindly conversations which convert us into becoming more humble and considerate of each other. Harmony in our home then, naturally flows with increasing measure as we conquer each test to our love. We believe that love can grow instead of die from each test. Sometimes I joke that pride is as easy to catch as the common cold and just about as hard to shake off. But it can be shaken off as we treat the emergency early enough with a healthy conscious choice of humility and repentance. We simply return back to humility when we find out that we are infected with pride. These two things seem to be the antidote for lots of problems that would destroy our peace. We are thankful to know of the Lord's teachings about these things. We don't just think of them as useless doctrines, but practical advice to retain and grow harmony in our home. Show more

  • Damon

    I try to be the best husband and father I can be. To do that I need to learn more and relearn things about how I can be the best follower of Christ. Just reading scriptures, saying prayers, and listening to inspired things (songs, talks, etc.) helps me to turn my mind to higher purposes than most media (e.g., T.V., radio, etc.). By turning my mind to higher things, I can invite the spirit of the Lord in my heart for the day, and I usually react to my family in a better way. Show more

  • Umeka

    I think we can develop greater harmony in our homes by continually striving to be more Christlike. That in itself can seem like a daunting task but I think it's important to take things one step at a time so as to not overwhelm youself. First start family prayers, you can start with just one a day if necessary and then add them as you see fit. Have family scripture reading on a daily basis. Have weekly activities as a family. I think as you begin to do more spiritual things as a family the harmony will be a direct consequence of it. Just by doing these things in our home we have even noticed a difference in our 2 year old! Show more

  • Ashley

    Harmony in my home has always been a challenge. I live with my mom and my step-father and four of my siblings. For a long time, I struggled with the idea that my family was different than other, "traditional" Latter-day Saint families. With divorced parents and a "mixed" family, family closeness was and continues to be an issue for us. The answer I received to my many prayers was that I was only accountable for what I could do, but that I could be doing more. I started to spend more time with my family, and consistently told them I loved them. At college I make special efforts to talk to my family, and every week I send my siblings cards bearing my testimony of gospel principles that I feel apply to their lives. I can't do everything, and it's not my job to do everything, but I have seen the love increase in my family. In time I will marry in the temple to a worthy priesthood holder, and we will start our own eternal family, and raise our children in a celestial environment. For now, I'm doing what I can...and it is enough! Show more

  • Vanessa Webster

    Creating harmony in the home requires peacemaking and learning to be the better person. We are taught to honor our fathers and mothers in all that we do. It is a commandment, and even though sometimes we do not agree with our parents and they may be in the wrong, we are to respect them and love them. I had a very hard time getting along with my parents through high school, and did not see eye to eye with them. I would often catch myself fighting them so much and making matters only worse. It is easy to fight back and be on the defense, but it is better to refrain from battling and instead creating peace. Jesus was able to forgive each one of us for the pain we have inflicted on Him, and we must be able to forgive too. Peace and harmony grow where love grows. President Harold B. Lee stated that “The most important of the Lord’s work that you will ever do will be the work you do within the walls of your own home." Show more

  • Ginger

    Raising children has to be one of the greatest challenges I have ever faced in my life, but it comes with great rewards. As in any other home, my children quarrel and disagree from time to time and I have been known to raise my voice on occasion when times of stress are high. I've come to recognize the importance of quality time spent individually and collectively as a whole. I have learned that children want order and discipline, but they also need lots of time and love. When we have a routine and fair consequences are enforced we seem to get along better and have fewer disciplinary problems. We also make sure to recognize the good things about our children as often as we can. It helps that my husband and I are best friends and rarely have disagreements. We try to show our kids by example how to treat each other by the way my husband and I treat each other. We have also found that having regular family prayer helps our home feel more at peace and less contentious. Show more

  • Matthew

    In our home, as we have raised our daughters -- the oldest is about to finish the eighth grade -- we have focused heavily on tone of voice. From as early as our daughters could communicate with each other, and as they have communicated with us, we have nipped in the bud any conversation or comment that has a disrespectful or unkind tone. As a result, quarrels are few. We have expected other children who visit our home to maintain the same standards of respect that we expect of our own children. The computers in our home are in public spaces, rather than secreted away in peoples' bedrooms. Show more

No Results