"His Unwavering Love Invites Us to Love in Return"

I saw this on a friend's facebook today and it just spoke to me. Such an awesome perspective to keep in life, just exactly what I needed to hear...

[“This is the most important part,” her voice cut through the many she was conducting. More palpable than her voice, however, were the chills that ran through many spines as a beautiful, devoted and heartfelt promise was brought into being: “Take my heart, oh take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts on high.” Then it was over. There was silence, and time for the poetry to sink in and press itself on the souls of a few present. It was just one of the many moments in Men’s Chorus where I have been prompted to renew my love of God.

What was it like?...
It was like the many other moments of spiritual confirmation that have told me yes, I really do want to give my heart to God. I trust Him, love Him, and hope to make Him proud. It was a reminder to keep a soft heart, one that the Lord can mold and shape to His own will.

There are so many moments when I am beset by sin. My faith waivers and doubt creeps into my heart. I begin to see everyone and everything in a different light, one that dulls the brightness of their humanity and diminishes the beauty of its simplicity. Negativity comes by default because everything else is now a chore.

Prior to such negativity my life revolved around people and things outside myself—my roommate, my friends, my family, my classmates and coworkers—it now revolves around me. There is no more beauty in friendship, and no more joy in my hobbies. There is now only a desire for fulfillment, which desire transforms the people around me into potential corks, and the activities I previously so enjoyed into time constraints that widen the hole. Sometimes it even gets so bad as to make people out to be obstacles to my happiness. At worst they are seen as the cause of my despair.

When there is a hole it must be filled. And if it can’t be filled, it must be justified. There must be a reason for its existence. We are already too fragile to admit ourselves as the cause. We cannot break ourselves, so we fortify ourselves, and attack outward. “O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men!”

If only we knew that our balm of Gilead lays in personal honesty, in truthful recognition of the fact that the emptiness and misery is a result of our change of paradigm, our lack of faith, our constant need to prove ourselves. Simply recognizing this truth begins the process by which we come to ourselves yet again.

Contemplating the truth of what has led us to where we are opens our eyes enough that the light of Christ comes through. His unwavering love invites us to love in return. There is no more emptiness, because there is no need for us to be validated. Love has been felt, and so we are fulfilled. Love has been felt, and so we feel to love in return, both to Him who loved us first, and to all those that surround us.

Our world sets itself right, focusing outward rather than inward, and we become who we were intended to be. We become who we are, and were, and always have been, stripped of emotional turmoil and the effects of a faithless heart. There is no more doubt. There is confidence begot by confidence, love begot by love, and joy begot by joy.

The love from the Atonement sets me free by teaching me how to love. I commune with God to be free, to feel joy, and to be my true self. “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”]

Soo powerful! I have such a strong testimony of this. What a blessing the gospel is and the opportunity we have to know and understand such eternal principles. 

Come What May and Love It!

Always a good reminder... 

Happy Wednesday! :) 

To Be Good, and to Do Good

I have always had the desire to look for the good in those around me, but as of lately, one of my goals has been to more fully recognize the Light of Christ in others, which all have. It's my constant prayer to be able to  at least to some degree see others how our Heavenly Father views his children. I know I cannot fully comprehend or see this, since that is a Godly characteristic, but this has definitely allowed me to more fully love all those around me and to see the good in others, along with not being quick to judge.  Service and looking for the good in others has been a strength to me, especially throughout the past few weeks. It's something that I always want to be striving to do in my life. It often becomes easy to be consumed in one's own life, especially when you're sticking to a schedule of school, work, gym, homework, bed... repeat. Anyways, I came across something PERFECT on Twitter today. It was a nice reminder of the definition of light and then further explaining the light of Christ.

The quote that stuck out to me the most was...

"As we yield to that influence, to do good and to become good, then the light of Christ increases within us. As we disobey, light is decreased, and can ultimately be diminished."

All of us have been blessed with the Light of Christ, which the scriptures defines as "The Spirit of Jesus Christ" (D&C 84:45). The blessing of having the gospel in our life is that through obedience and the desire to be more like our Savior and Heavenly Father, this light in us can increase, allowing us to do good and become better children of God. I lovee this. And of course, the opposite, disobedience can cause this light in each one of us to decrease. I think one of the best attributes that people can have is that of being a good example, especially through the Light of Christ. Through being good examples, we are able to let our light so shine, encouraging others to also do good and be good.

President Boyd K. Packer simply explains this perfectly:

"To describe the Light of Christ, I will compare or liken it to the light of the sun. Sunlight is familiar to everyone; it is everywhere present and can be seen and can be felt. Life itself depends upon sunlight.

The Light of Christ is like sunlight. It, too, is everywhere present and given to everyone equally.

Just as darkness must vanish when the light of the sun appears, so is evil sent fleeing by the Light of Christ.

There is no darkness in sunlight. Darkness is subject unto it. The sun can be hidden by clouds or by the rotation of the earth, but the clouds will disappear, and the earth will complete its turning.

This Light of Christ, which gives life, is within you. The evil one will attempt to obscure it. It can be so clouded with confusion so far as to convince you that it does not even exist.

Just as sunlight is a natural disinfectant, the Spirit of Christ can cleanse the spirit."

I know that if we understand the reality of the Light of Christ in everyone we see and in others, in every meeting we attend, and within ourselves, and understand the great challenge that we have- the surroundings in which we live, the danger which sometimes besets us- we will have courage and inspiration beyond that which we know. 

I'm so grateful for the Gospel and how it gives me the desire to become a better person and to strive to always recognize the Light of Christ in others. I know I am not perfect in this area, but I'm grateful for this knowledge. 

D&C 50:24

"That which is of God is light; 

And he that receiveth light

receiveth more light, 

and that light groweth brighter 

and brighter until the perfect day. 

The Refiner's Fire

Someone shared this talk by James E. Faust, called The Refiner's Fire a while back. The past few weeks have definitely had some trials. I've been trying to stay strong and this has been such a good source for me as I try to remain full of hope and try to find the strength to face these trials. This is the part of President Faust's talk that stood out to me the most...
"Into every life there come the painful, despairing days of adversity and buffeting. There seems to be a full measure of anguish, sorrow, and often heartbreak for everyone, including those who earnestly seek to do right and be faithful. The thorns that prick, that stick in the flesh, that hurt, often change lives which seem robbed of significance and hope. This change comes about through a refining process which often seems cruel and hard. In this way the soul can become like soft clay in the hands of the Master in building lives of faith, usefulness, beauty, and strength. For some, the refiner’s fire causes a loss of belief and faith in God, but those with eternal perspective understand that such refining is part of the perfection process."
One of the reasons we face trials is truly so that the Lord can mold us into the sons and daughters he wants us to be. This message has shown to me that even though we are doing the right things, some things in life aren't always the way we want them to be like. We're not perfect and sometimes were are going to have to endure trials that we often feel are not fair or even seem to hard to endure. Although this is true, the Lord will never give us more than we can handle. He is always there for us. He always has his hand extended out to each and every one of us. If through these hard but refining periods of our life we turn to the Lord and pray to our Heavenly Father for comfort and help, it will always be available.
I think the most important part of this talk is that as long as we keep an eternal perspective through these refining moments of our life, we will understand that the reining process is apart of us reaching our potential of perfection. Sometimes it's easy to get down on oneself when trying to endure such things, but this is so true. I know that if we keep this eternal perspective through the trials and experiences of life, that we will truly be molded into amazing sons and daughters of God, and that as we embrace and have faith through enduring these things that we will only grow closer to our Heavenly Father and Savior. They love us and only want us to become more like them as we face these things in life.
I love this closing remark from President Faust...
"Out of the refiner’s fire can come a glorious deliverance. It can be a noble and lasting rebirth. The price to become acquainted with God will have been paid. There can come a sacred peace. There will be a reawakening of dormant, inner resources. A comfortable cloak of righteousness will be drawn around us to protect us and to keep us warm spiritually. Self-pity will vanish as our blessings are counted."
This is soo true and I love it. Out of the refiner's fire we really can be delivered. It gives us a dose of humility and learning to become closer with our loving Heavenly Father who knows what is best for us. I love the gospel and that we have a knowledge of these things.