I've been doing a lot of studying and reading about things that I can improve on a daily basis. I came across this quote tonight and it really stuck out to me. It makes me want to work on these characteristics each and every day. Enjoy... :)
"May God help us to be a little kinder, showing forth greater forbearance, to be more forgiving, more willing to walk the second mile, to reach down and lift up those who may have sinned but have brought forth the fruits of repentance, to lay aside old grudges and nurture them no more."
Christ shows us these characterstics perfectly, so why can't each of us strive to better develop these traits in our life each day. Afterall, we are striving to become perfect as he is. Be more kind and so forth and you can find more happiness in life. I love the gospel and the principles we are taught.
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.
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.
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.
I came across this video on YouTube at the most perfect time. What a perfect example of people in the gospel and what a testimony it is to me that we can overcome trials in our life if we put our faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, and try to endure them to the best of our ability. During times of trials, we are invited to come unto Christ and he will give us rest. The past month or so I have hit some hard times, often finding it easy to get down on myself. Just as in this video, sometimes through trials, many find themselves asking, "my God, where art thou?" However, God is always there. That's one of the greatest messages of the gospel is that we are NEVER alone. This video says it perfectly: "When lonely, cold, hard times come, he is there. Prays are heard, and when we weep, he and the angels of heaven weep with us."
Everyone here on earth has their challenges and difficulties, which are part of our mortal test. The reason for some of these trials cannot be readily understood except on the basis of faith and hope because there is often a larger purpose which we do not always understand. This often makes it hard to endure trials, but through faith and hope, we can receive peace through these bumps in the road. In the scriptures it says that if we endure our trials well God shall exalt us on high. How we handle and endure our trails is huge. "Sometime in the eternities to come, we will see that our trials were calculated to cause us to turn to our Heavenly Father for strength and support. Any affliction or suffering we are called upon to bear may be directed to give us experience, refinement, and perfection. Turning to our Heavenly Father in times of trials is the best thing we can do. I believe this is one of the greatest reasons we have trials. He is the only one that knows us perfectly and who can help us cope during these times.
Tribulation, afflictions, and trials will constantly be with us in our time here on earth. In John 16:33 it says "In the world ye shall have tribulation." Therefore, the great challenge in this earthly life is not to determine how to escape the afflictions and problems, but rather to carefully prepare ourselves to meet them. We have been promised that Heavenly Father will never give us an trial or tribulation that we cannot handle. There is such great comfort in this. Sometimes we often feel that we cannot overcome trials, or we allow trials to overcome us. I know that if we turn to our Heavenly Father during these hard times that we will find peace through them and the we can learn and grow as we choose to grow closer to our Heavenly Father through these experiences. Heavenly Father is truly watching over us and he is trying to mold us into the best people we can become. As I've studied this a little, I've made a goal to face my trails in a more patience, hope, faith in a more enduring manner so that I can recognize the good of certain afflictions I face. After all, as the scriptures say, these trials are for our good and learning, and if we face them correctly often times they are only for a small moment.
I don't know what I would do with out the gospel, especially in times of trials. I'm also so grateful for being at BYU too with the many people who have been put in my path to say the right things and to help provide in times of comfort. I'm also grateful for the Atonement, that allows us to overcome trials and sin. Elder Hale said: "When the challenges of mortality come, and they come for all of us, it may seem hard to have faith and hard to believe. At these times only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement can bring us peace, hope, and understanding. Only faith that He suffered for our sakes will give us the strength to endure to the end. When we gain this faith, we experience a mighty change of heart, and like Enos, we become stronger and begin to feel a desire for the welfare of our brothers and sisters. We pray for them, that they too will be lifted and strengthened through faith on the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ." How great of a messages this is.
The past month or so has just been so amazing. I have felt soo much peace with everything. It's been amazing to feel that I'm in such a good place in my life. I'm surrounded by so many great people, with my family and friends. I'm just so grateful for the gospel in my life. It has always been and continues to be what keeps me strong on a day to day basis. It really is amazing how the gospel makes my life so much easier. When I wake up each day, because of the gospel, I know that I have a purpose for why I'm here. It also gives me direction. The gospel is so goal oriented, which inspires me to want to progress and always be moving towards being perfect like Christ. I know we all aren't perfect and that we makes mistakes, but with the gospel it allows us to want to become better people and hopefully end up in the presence of our Heavenly Father. I heard the perfect quote today by Elder Christofferson... "Exercising agency is a setting that sometimes includes opposition and hardship is what makes life more than a simple multiple-choice test. God is interested in what you are becoming as a result of your choices. He is not satisfied if your exercise of moral agency is simply a robotic effort at keeping some rules. Your Savior wants you to become something, not just do something." Of course I know there is more to being obedient and making sure we dedicate ourselves to the gospel, rather than just going through the motions daily, but I guess I haven't thought about it this way in a long time. He wants us to become something and he really does care about our progression as we strive to be obedient and keep the commandments. This is just a testimony to me of how amazing of a Heavenly Father we have and how not only does he take care of us and know us collectively as his children, but also invidually as his sons and daughters. Wow, the gospel's amazing!
