Begin With Love

Oh my goodness friends! There is so much depth to the four gospels! I’ve just spent

the last 6 weeks being immersed in it and Wow, Wow that’s all I can say! AND…

I am not even finished!

This week we learned a lot about the Last Supper and the time Jesus spent teaching

while walking to the Garden of Gethsemene. Jesus focused his attention on teaching

and preparing his disciples for his departure from them. 

He spent A LOT of time telling them how much he loved them.

This touched me so much.

He wanted them to be able to share that love.

In John 13 Christ washes his disciple’s feet, they don’t want him to because that is

something reserved for the lowest of the low servants to do but Christ teaches them

13:16 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he

that is sent greater than he that sent him.” then in the next verse we learn “If ye know

these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” Verse 17 reminds me of Galatians 6:9 “And

let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” 

I imagine it is very hard to be Bishop but I also know it is hard to be a nursery leader.

It can often feel like babysitting and not someone edifying anyone’s spirit let alone your

own. But… if you are happy in your service knowing that one calling isn’t bigger or

better than another then you can “be not weary in well doing.” As we are taught

in D&C 64:33 "Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation

of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great."

Think about it if someone didn’t take care of and love those babies what would the

bishop do, would he be able to do his job, would the parents be able to listen in their

Sunday school classes or teach one, would the teacher of the adults be able to be

heard if there were a bunch of babies crawling and playing with toys in the room?

Also at 18 months, children are in a stage of huge language development, and YOU

dear nursery leader get to aid in teaching that child the language of the gospel; LOVE.

In John 13:34 Jesus gives a new commandment. Not only to do unto others as you’d

have done unto you but to LOVE as he does. He said, “A new commandment I give

unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

Doesn’t it seem that these go hand in hand?

I feel like if I love my brothers and sisters, in my home, in my ward, in my neighborhood,

on the road, wherever; then I can simply serve with no pride of position just love, and

I can be happy doing it. Have you ever been served by someone happy to serve you?

Doesn’t it just feel like heaven? I have a friend who often says when she is serving

someone who is apprehensive to be served “Don’t deny me blessings, I want to serve

you!” and I actually believe she does.

Today I have a challenge for you.

Begin with love. When you come across anyone stranger of familiar think of them as

your Heavenly sibling, a child of God, then serve them. This could mean a smile, this

could mean not saying idiot in your head when they cut you off, this could mean an

extra hug or story at bedtime, or listening to a teenager rant about something they’re

figuring out.

I think you might find there are more ways to love and serve than you previously thought.

I know I have as I’ve given myself this challenge, so I say this in the name of

Jesus Christ Amen.

P.S. I realize this post has a lot of Church of Jesus Christ lingo, I'm sorry. If you would

like to know more about it here is a link to the Church's website.

And here is a link to find missionaries who can teach you more and answer

specific questions you might have.

Pride vs Humility

 Hi Friends,

Wow, this week’s study was so good and I had the hardest time pinning down one idea…

We read in Matthew 21-24; JST Matt; Mark 11-13; Luke 19-21; John 13-18.

What stuck out to me though was the contrast between the attitudes of the

Pharisees in Matthew 23:25-28 and Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10.

The Pharisees were people who have had access to the prophecies of Jesus Christ’s coming from the prophets of the Old Testament and are supposed to be the leaders and teachers of Jerusalem but they are blind to the gospel. We learned in previous chapters that the Pharisees would “tempt” or try to trick Jesus into going against the scriptures by asking tricky questions and they were never successful but still refused to accept him. Jesus was to them a challenge of the status quo. They didn’t want to make the effort to change, they didn’t want to let go of their authority and power.

Contrast them with Zacchaeus, a publican, the Jews thought publicans had forfeited their claim as Abraham’s chosen offspring, and Zacchaeus was the chief publican.

In Matthew 23:25-28  Christ uses the comparison of a cup and platter that are clean on the outside but dirty within and a ‘whited sepulcher’(a tomb painted white to look clean while a dead body decayed inside) to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.

Why these comparisons?

I think of the idea that people need to eat and drink for nourishment, that is how we grow and keep our bodies and minds healthy and progressing but if our cups and plates are dirty within then what we eat and drink is not pure and therefore not good for us. Just like spiritually if what we take in or have in us is not pure then our spirits aren't pure and progressing. And the whited sepulcher is how they tried to look good or play the part on the outside but their thoughts or beliefs had decayed or become corrupted. They were like the barren fig tree Jesus taught about in Matthew 21:17-22, they were supposed to bear fruit but they didn’t and as the second son in the parable of the two sons in Matthew 21:28-32 he willingly accepted the charge but didn’t fulfill his agreement. 

In Luke 19:1-10 We learn of Zacchaeus who was the chief publican and rich. He was a good man and even gave half of his goods to the poor and made “fourfold” restitution, basically, Zacchaeus went above and beyond even the law of Moses. The day we learn of him he is trying to see Jesus, he was a small man so it was hard in the crowd to get to Jesus so he had to climb a tree! When Jesus saw Zacchaeus in the tree, he told him to come down so they could go to Zacchaeus’ house in verse 6 it says “And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.” He was like the first son in the parable of the two sons, he was humble, repentant, and ready to serve.

Notice the difference?

The Pharisees were prideful of their position and heritage, fake, insincere, and impure. Zacchaeus who was thought by the Pharisees to be the lowest of the low, thought to be impure, excommunicated from his religion was actually pure, humble, and ready to learn from Jesus. Despite being hated by his peers he rose to the challenge Christ gave him to “Come Follow Me.”

I imagine it would have been very hard for both the Pharisees and Zacchaeus to follow Christ, it would have taken a lot of effort. The Pharisees never gave themselves the chance to see what Christ had to offer them but Zacchaeus did as we see in verse 9 “And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.” 

We learn from a talk by Scott D. Whiting, “In order to see real progress, you will need to put in sustained effort. Much like climbing a mountain requires preparation before and endurance and perseverance during ascent, so too will this journey require real effort and sacrifice. True Christianity, in which we strive to become like our Master, has always required our best efforts.”

I echo Elder Whiting that if we humbly make efforts we truly can follow Jesus Christ and learn and progress.

In the name of Jesus Christ Amen

Growth Through Christ

 Hello Friends!

I am here again to share with you what I have learned this week from my New Testament class.

I am given several chapters of the four gospels to read and study. If you are familiar with the four gospels you know that they repeat a lot of the same scenarios but from different apostles perspectives and written to different audiences. At different times in my life, one gospels perspective has spoken to me more than others.

In Matthew 19:16-22 and Mark 10:17-2 tells us about the young rich man who came running to ask how to have eternal life. I like the visual of him running because it seems to me that he really wants to know the answer. Christ then tells him the commandments which this young man already does. He sounds like a good man, right?

Is good, good enough?

So the young man tells Christ that he has lived the commandments his entire life and in Matthew19:20 he uses the phrasing, “...what lack I yet?” 

I like this phrasing because it is such a good question to ask yourself every day, what lack I yet? 

Jesus’ response in Matthew “...If thou wilt be perfect,” reminds me of his teaching in the sermon on the mount to be perfect meaning to strive every day to become something better than today to work towards being complete.

So Christ tells the young man to go and sell everything he has and “...come and follow me.”

The young man is sad and went away. You may have the impression that he doesn’t do what Jesus asked of him but I like to imagine that he is like me and is sometimes just slow to understand or maybe wasn’t really ready yet but eventually came around. It is implied in both Matthew and Mark that his inability to give up his riches was his stumbling block.

All growth requires sacrifice. 

So we have to ask ourselves what is my stumbling block? Is it pride, faithlessness, laziness, etc? Then we must replace that stumbling block with a building block or in other words a Christlike attribute. 

In our most recent General Conference Elder Scott D. Whiting spoke of completing a Christlike attribute activity that can be found in chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel. This is something I am doing along with studying the four gospels in my New Testament class.

My focus has been on faith but I am finding that as I work on my faith that I am repenting more and noticing where my pride has halted my progress towards becoming like Christ. 

President Nelson explained it perfectly in his 2019 April talk We Can Do Better and Be Better

“When we choose to repent, we choose to change! We allow the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves. We choose to grow spiritually and receive joy--the joy of redemption in Him. When we choose to repent, we choose to become more like Jesus Christ! 

Friends I know that through the atonement of Jesus Christ we can find answers to the question “What lack I yet?” and become something more.

In the name of Jesus Christ Amen

Sometimes my learning excites me and sometimes it humbles me.                                          Getting humbled doesn't always feel exciting but the results really are.                                    This week I was reminded of how I went through a healing process and it built my testimony once I understood why I had to go through it.  

      In John 9 we learn of a man who was born blind and it was thought that he or his parents must have sinned for him to have this malady. So Christ healed him and I find it interesting that as he healed him he was teaching the people at the same time. He says while spitting on the ground and making a clay, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." then He put the clay on the man's eyes and tells him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam and when he came back he could see. A blind man lives in darkness, before knowing Christ we live in darkness. When Christ came He brought the light. The man didn't question Christ when he put spit on clay on his eyes or question why that pool he just had faith. When we have faith and allow Christ's light to reach us we too can be healed.                                                                                                                                                                                                  Last year I started showing symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus, I got very stressed about this, googling my symptoms and worrying, and worst of all despairing. It was a long road of pain and I will spare you all the details but when I began to have faith that I could be healed I began to be healed. I was able to find the right doctors (yes it took multiple) to help me. I am not cured, there is no known cure right now but I am living well.                                                                                                                                                            Later in the same chapter (John 9), the newly seeing man has been getting hassled by the Pharisees and they don't believe that he really was born blind and then healed and they want proof. All the man can tell them is that a man named Jesus healed him and he says, "If this man were not of God, he could do nothing." and they cast him out so Christ comes and teaches him who He is and teaches the Pharisees of their spiritual blindness.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Similarly, I was healed of a physical malady but because of said malady I was humbled first and I learned more of who my Savior is and how He heals and teaches me daily. Obviously, I am a work in progress as we all are but each day I can repent of my spiritual blindness and be teachable so that I can feel the light of Christ.      

In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.