Teaching With Love

"Nothing is so much calculated to lead people to forsake sin as to take them by the hand, and watch over them with tenderness. When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, oh what power it has over my mind, while the opposite course had a tendency to harrow up all the harsh feelings and depress the human mind." (Joseph Smith)

I came acrosss this quote as I prepared for our upcoming Primary Teacher Appreciation meeting. It made me think of a little phrase my mom would repeat to us as kids (which made me mad everytime I heard it as I recall!) that goes something like this: "You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar." I remember thinking that was a really dumb thing for her to keep saying.

But the lesson is there. That little phrase from the past takes me to one you hear a lot these days: "They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." It's true. When you approach anything with love, the end result is always astounding. Joseph Smith knew it, my mom knew it, and now I know it too.

When people know you love them, they are willing to hear whatever it is that you are trying to teach them. It works. Try it.