It goes along with the idea that the sealing of children provides them with a safety net for a chance at exaltation.
Two quick comments on this.
First is that I really want to see my kids after this life, whether or not they are my kids as such or not. They may be off doing other things, but I can’t help but think I’ll still want to be around them.
The second has to do with this quote from an April 2003 conference address by President Faust:
The Prophet Joseph Smith declared—and he never taught more comforting doctrine—that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father’s heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God.”
A principle in this statement that is often overlooked is that they must fully repent and “suffer for their sins” and “pay their debt to justice.” I recognize that now is the time “to prepare to meet God.” If the repentance of the wayward children does not happen in this life, is it still possible for the cords of the sealing to be strong enough for them yet to work out their repentance? In the Doctrine and Covenants we are told, “The dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God, and after they have paid the penalty of their transgressions, and are washed clean, shall receive a reward according to their works, for they are heirs of salvation.”
We remember that the prodigal son wasted his inheritance, and when it was all gone he came back to his father’s house. There he was welcomed back into the family, but his inheritance was spent. Mercy will not rob justice, and the sealing power of faithful parents will only claim wayward children upon the condition of their repentance and Christ’s Atonement. Repentant wayward children will enjoy salvation and all the blessings that go with it, but exaltation is much more. It must be fully earned. The question as to who will be exalted must be left to the Lord in His mercy.
I have heard this doctrine explained in this way: Our children, if they do not repent in this life, may have a chance in the life to come to serve us as ministring angels, or something of the sort–salvation, but not exaltation. The issues I’ve had to work out is–what about those who aren’t sealed to parents? Maybe that’s one reason why a sealing link is needed to weld the entire human family together. Perhaps if we repent too late, we may give up the chance for exaltation but not for service to those of our progenitors that were faithful.