a Bit on Heart Etching

a Bit on Heart Etching

2 Corinthians 3:1-3

My husband and I have a very close friend who we were blessed to meet a few years ago: we can call him G. G was raised in the gospel, and had wonderful God-fearing parents training him in the ways of the Lord. G has, on multiple occasions, told our family about his wonderful Dad and the service he gave to everyone around him. By all means, G was set up with a great foundation for his spirituality.

When G was a teenager, he found his wild side. He slowly found himself straying from the ways of his parents teachings; the way of God. G made a lot of mistakes, ultimately voiding his covenants with the Lord. G's own family was then raised without the gospel, something that has been a major struggle since.

Fast forward 25-30ish years, and G hit rock bottom after spiraling out of control for so long. He staggered his way back into the gospel, knowing full-well that the road of head would be difficult and trying. G made commitments to his family and to God, and made immediate changes in his life. He stopped using every vice Satan had gained hold of him with, and put all of his energy in to church. Eventually G was baptized a member of the Lord's church once more, and given the Priesthood.

Now, just a few years later, G has been made Elders Quorum President. Every ounce of effort that the man can give, is given to the service of the Lord. G serves in his calling more valiantly and tirelessly than anyone I have ever seen. He gives and gives and gives...and gives. G always has his nose in the scriptures, and can relate any current-day situation to what he has gleaned from them. G is the closest person I have personally met to a saint! Not only is he diligent in everything Godly, but he is so pure in his humility. We are very blessed to have him as our friend and example.

I write this story, because of the two examples of testimony that G experienced. The first: although he was raised in the optimum situation for testimony construction, as a child, G never really built one for himself. His lack of a foundation built on God, led him to make many mistakes and lead his own family in a way contrary to the Lord's teachings.

The second: G gained his own testimony, and used it to help others gain theirs as well. His own beliefs are very apparent to all around him, because he chooses to display the Lord's love and patience in all things that he does.

In the New Testament, Paul's epistle to the Corinthians explains exactly what this second testimony example is created from:

 "Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?

 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:

 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart."

-2 Corinthians 3:1-3

 "...but in the fleshy tables of the heart..." What does that mean? Here is a list that gives a little explanation. When we have a teaching, commandment, or doctrine written on our fleshy tables of our hearts, we:

-Take responsibility for that doctrine/commandment/teaching

-Liken the teaching to ourselves

-Apply it to our own lives

-Cherish/respect the doctrine, and the person from whom it comes

-That commandment/doctrine/teaching becomes part of who we are

When we have gleaned from the things that we are being taught, and make it part of us, it will show in our actions. When we understand and fully believe in Heavenly Father as a literal Father, then we will understand our duty to serve our brothers and sisters in Him. When we have a real testimony of the Word of Wisdom, it becomes a tangible part of our heart that denies the ability to be tempted otherwise. If we are committed to our belief in Eternal Families, then we will go to the temple. In short, our beliefs prompt action, and in turn, will be visible to others through those actions. We watched G serve, we knew he believed. 

So how do we get something written on our hearts? Hint: the answer does not involve a Sharpie. There are two ways (see here and here). 

1-Do the Lord's will

2-Pray with all the energy in our hearts

By doing these two things, we can have the Lord's doctrine written in our hearts. It is a very real thing- something very visible to those watching our actions and our deeds. When we align our hearts with the ways of the Lord, then people take note and ask questions. They can get that "spark" needed to ignite a testimony. We do it for God, for ourselves, and also for others. 

I don't profess to have answers, or even good advice. But one thing I do know: when we decide for ourselves that it is time to change for the better, we find God. When we commit to that change, we find ourselves. 

a Missionary Morsel

a Missionary Morsel

1 Corinthians 9

Paul was an apostle. Because of this calling in the church, and his pure devotion to the Savior, Paul was a missionary.  In1 Corinthians 9:22, Paul wrote (in the second half):

“…I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

Paul, being the dedicated disciple that he was, did whatever he could to turn the hearts of men to Christ. Verses 20-22 talk about how when he was with certain groups of people, Paul would find ways to relate to them.

In verse 20, it was the Jewish people:

“And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law”

In verse 21, it was those without the law, and in verse 22, it was the weak.

Have you ever had salesmen come to your door and promote their product? I have. And I think there are a few different types.

The first one: the pushy, rude, only-cares-about-commission type. Usually he comes to the door with a vacuum or a set of scripture movies. Sometimes he comes with some supplement that will cure anything you got! When I was pregnant-sick with our first child, this salesman showed up to our door. I could barely stand, let alone listen to his never-ending pitch. I ended up collapsing in my doorway while listening to him. Did he stop his speech? Nope! He took the opportunity to push his shakes and explaining that that wouldn’t happen if I took his overpriced cure-all. Did he sell me any shakes that day? No. Why? He didn’t care about me; he didn’t care about my life or my problems. He just wanted me to write a check so that he could get busy finding the next schmuck to listen.

Then there is a second kind of salesman: the one who really, genuinely feels for my situation and my family. These sure seem to be rare! They usually don’t have some amazing new product, maybe not even something tangible at all. The best example for this: a missionary. All though this isn’t the typical sales job, they do work hard to share the Lord’s gospel in hopes that people will “buy it,” (decide to seek for an answer that it is indeed the truth.) This type of salesmen is successful because they love and care about their investigators. They look to find their needs and follow the Spirit in teaching.

What Paul shows us in 1 Corinthians 9, is that we need to be the second type of salesmen missionaries.  We need to care enough about the people that we are preaching to, to make sure we know their needs and their hesitations. How can you connect with someone on a spiritual level, if you don’t know where that person is coming from spiritually?

Elder Bruce R. McConkie expounded a little on the way that Paul handled his missionary responsibility: “Paul here says he made himself all things to all men in an effort to get them to accept the gospel message; that is, he adapted himself to the conditions and circumstances of all classes of people, as a means of getting them to pay attention to his teachings and testimony. And then, lest any suppose this included the acceptance of their false doctrines or practices, or that it in any way involved a compromise between the gospel and false systems of worship, he hastened to add that he and all men must obey the gospel law to be saved”

Paul displayed in his own words and example, that because we have been blessed with the knowledge of the Lord’s gospel, we have a very real obligation to share that knowledge. To be effective at this, we need to do more than casual discussions about it. We need to do everything in our power to turn our brothers and sisters to Christ. We need to be able to relate to them as real people, with real problems and questions. We need to find ways to communicate with them despite their challenges or shortcomings.

I have this friend that I want to accept the gospel. We have done missionary discussions with him, he has watched conference with my family, he has even regularly attended church in the singles ward in our stake. He started reading the Book of Mormon even before I gave him one. I believe that he is what is called “the golden investigator.” However, after all of his effort and logical thinking, this friend is still unsure and denies the opportunity of Baptism. It has been hard and kind of frustrating- but mostly just sad. After reading this lesson, I know that I am lacking in my teaching. I know that I need to meet this friend where he is at, not where I want him to be.  I will not deny or belittle what I know to be true, but I need to understand the beliefs of this friend before I can help him connect with the Savior.

Because I know what I know, I have work to do; and my friends deserve for me to do the best I can. 

a Lot of Work to be Done

a Lot of Work to be Done

1&2 Thessalonians

Taken from: http://year27.com/2-thessalonians-313/

In Thessalonians 1 & 2, Paul advised the members of the church to tighten up their actions- make them selves better than they were. Below is a list of things that he instructed them to do in order to be a more righteous group. 

Found in 1 Thessalonians 3-5; 2 Thessalonians 3

FYI: The indented portion includes a definition, or my understanding of the item on the list.

Increase in love towards one another (abound)

            Abound=exist in large numbers

Repent

Soften hearts to the Prophet’s words

Abstain from fornication

Use our bodies with sanctification and honor

            Sanctification = separating yourself from the world and aligning yourself       with God

Avoid the lusts of concupiscence

            Concupiscence = strong sexual desire

Know God

Honest with each other, seek not to defraud

Seek to be holy

Love each other- not despise each other

Study to be quiet, to do our own business and work with our own hands

Take time to listen for the Spirit, make sure we feel the accomplishment of finishing work, mind our own business

Be charitable

Be prepared for the Lord’s coming

Pay attention and “not sleep” for the Lord’s coming

            Do not choose to ignore the Lord’s coming

Be “sober”

            Be aware and attentive to the signs of the Lord’s coming

Wear the breastplate of faith and love

            Protect our hearts and spirits with faith in God and love for everyone

Wear the helmet of salvation

            Protect our minds with the knowledge of who we are and what our plan is

Day and night be followers of Christ

Edify one another

            Edify= instruct or improve

Know each other

            Take time to know those people around us

Esteem highly each other

            See the divine nature of every person

Be at peace with each other

Warn the unruly

            Unruly= unable to control, disruptive, disorderly, not able to discipline

            Warn the people around us who are acting with rebellion

Comfort the feeble minded

            Feeble minded = struggles to make wise decisions, makes bad judgments

            Help those who struggle to follow the commandments

Support the weak

Be patient with each other

Show no evil to any man

Choose to be happy

Pray always

Give thanks

Don’t deny the Spirit

            Listen when prompted to do something

Soften heart to prophesy

            Don’t discount the words of the church leaders

Prove all things

            Listen and hear the commandments, advice and suggestions from scripture and prophesy, and follow through. Look for truth in the advice through living            it.

Hold fast to good

            Look for and only do good.

Stay away from the appearance of evil

            Even the appearance of evil!

Pray for church leaders

Follow commandments

Patiently wait for Christ

Avoid situations of sin

Avoid not working

Avoid being a busy body

            Do not be someone who pries or meddles in other business, do not make mischief.

After compiling this list from Paul of all of the things that members of Christ’s church could do to improve themselves, I was instructed to pick three from the list to write about and work on.  So, below are my three:

1.)  The most obvious problem I need to work on: patience. I need to work on being patient and understanding with those around me- more specifically: my kids. Not only am I quick to anger a lot of the time, but I also do not take the time that I should in listening to the real root of their problems. I tend to look more at the problem that is happening, than at the child having the problem. In order to be more Christlike, and a better member of His church, I need to have pure and heartfelt patience. I need to be patient with the drivers on the road who may struggle with safety, I need to be more patient with neighborhood kids, and I need to work on being patient with people who’s political beliefs I disagree with. Once I allow myself to see the people first, and not their actions, then I am choosing to be more like Christ.

I had a recent awakening to this recently, when the school shooting in Troutdale, OR happened. This was very close to my home town- and I drove by that school everyday! My initial reaction, similar to every single other shooting, was sadness for the victims and disgust for the shooter. A few hours after watching the barrage of police and parents all in tears on TV, it was announced that the shooter was a member of our church- and was in our neighboring stake. My mom knew his family- strong in the church and active in their ward! I realized that I was wrong- this child had a problem and had needed help. He wasn’t the monster that I had originally thought- he was a child of God, just like me. I was forced to reevaluate every school shooting suspect I had judged prior. They are people. They make bad decisions, they have some unbearable pain, and maybe a gear isn’t working right in their mind. But they are the same as me- people. Children of God. I need to be more patient.

2.)  I have three kids, all little-ish, and am surrounded by said children every second of every day. There is no exaggeration to those internet memes that poke fun at the moms who can’t get a second alone- even in the restroom. Even in my sleep, not a night goes by that I am not covered in small ones (who claim to have had a bad dream, but really just don’t want to let me sleep comfortably.) So somewhere around the 4^th time in a row of hearing “Mom, can I eat a pickle?” and “the baby just dumped her *dinner* on the floor! (*insert any combination of bodily fluids, edible objects or fragile items)” is that little part of my brain that knows what my next choice should be: quiet. I need to take time to be quiet and listen to the lack of shopping /to do/to don’t lists running through my head. Listen for what the Spirit wants me to hear. Listen to answers. I just need to make some quiet time.

3.)  My last one is a hard topic. I need to be more earnest and bold in standing up for the right, in the form of “warning the unruly.” I don’t think that means calling out every person that you see who sins, but there are situations that I have been around that I should have taken the opportunity to denounce the wickedness promoted by some people. For example: one of our dearest friends in the world is struggling with their belief in some of the teachings of the church. They believe, as many lacking faith do, that the church is more of a brainwashing institution than founded in the word of God. It is a real struggle for this person, and in turn, their family. This is their choice, and they know that it is rebellious to the ways of the Lord. However, not only do they justify themselves, they seek to disillusion others around them. They want other people to feel the same, that they might fall away together. It is heart-wrenching to watch. When they talk to us, we just roll our eyes and ignore them. However, we should be doing more. We should look for ways to lovingly and patiently discuss their actions with them- warning them of the damage they are leaving in trail behind them. It is part of being a disciple, and our loved ones deserve to know and remember where they stand.

This was kind of a different study assignment than the ones previously. What a blessing it is to be given the opportunity for a little self evaluation! I have so much to work on, and am grateful for a place to start!

Which three did you pick?