First, the essence of Alma's conversation with his son Corianton is to teach him about God's Plan. In his October 1993 General Conference talk, Elder Russell M. Nelson listed the different names for God's Plan:
The Plan of Salvation
The Plan of Redemption
The Plan of Restoration
The Plan of Mercy
The Plan of Deliverance
The Everlasting Gospel
Thus, teaching God's Plan to my children is a prerequisite to teaching them to obey His commandments.
Second, Alma uses scriptures stories and family history stories to adequately answer Corianton's questions. Research has found that sharing family narratives strengthens bonds and increases resilience in family members.
Finally, and most importantly, Alma directs Corianton to face the Lord, to seek His guidance, and to follow His law. President Nelson said it like this:
Facing upward is crucial for successful parenting. Families deserve guidance from heaven. Parents cannot counsel children adequately from personal experience, fear, or sympathy. But when parents face children as would the Creator who gave them life, parents will be endowed with wisdom beyond that of their own. Wise mothers and fathers will teach members of their family how to make personal decisions based upon divine law. They will teach them that “this life is the time … to prepare to meet God.” They will teach them that decisions of a moral and spiritual character cannot be based on freedom to choose without accountability to God for those choices. With that understanding, parents and children will be rewarded with strength of character, peace of mind, joy, and rejoicing in their posterity.
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