A first has occurred!! I've had a request to write a blog post! I honestly never even thought about this possibility, but I am definitely open to suggestions. If you would like to give me a topic, I can certainly do my best to write my thoughts on it. Reader beware, the post may be anywhere from two sentences to an essay. Also, what I have said is true as far as I have understood it, and any mistakes are human error.
Tonight in Institute we had a lesson about forgiveness and a lesson about how faith must always come before signs/miracles. I think I'll talk about the faith one first.
I am so glad that I take notes, because otherwise I wouldn't remember many things that I'm taught. I'm not one that can hear something once and then remember it forever...except for with certain things, and those things occasionally change, so it's actually rather unpredictable. Anyway, I digress from my topic. Faith must always come before any sign or miracle is presented. Well, actually, what my teacher (we'll call him Brother G) taught was that tests come before faith, which comes before signs/miracles. He gave several good examples of instances that this happened. One of those examples was comparing Emma Smith, wife of Joseph Smith, Jr., and Lucy Harris, wife of Martin Harris. Emma was never allowed to look at the plates while Joseph translated them. As far as I remember, she was commanded by God to not look at the plates. She was allowed to be Joseph's scribe for a short time while he translated, but he was still not allowed to look at the plates themselves. While this must have been excruciatingly hard for her to not look at the plates, even when she was left alone with them, she never looked, and she always retained her testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. Lucy, however, was a far different story. Lucy actually obtained some parts of the translations from her husband, who had asked to take something home to show his wife. Lucy never gained a testimony of the gospel, and in fact she was one of the biggest thorns in the side of the Church while it was getting started. She eventually went insane, and believed that black snakes were constantly following her around. This example is only one of many.
Why would faith have to come before any miracles? You might think that seeing someone walk on water or heal a persons maimed limb would give a person an instant testimony that the Church is true. While a person may say that he believes in the gospel after he witnesses this miracle, he does not truly believe. One must receive his own testimony through careful study of the gospel, and from pondering the words of the Lord. In Doctrine and Covenants 63:12, the Lord says, "Wherefore, I, the Lord, am not pleased with those among you who have sought after signs and wonders for faith, and not for the good of men unto my glory." Basically what's being said in that scripture is that miracles will happen when you have faith because you want to further the work of the Lord. Sign-seekers want miracles for the wrong reason. They want instant gratification. They don't want to work to gain faith, they want faith right then and there. Faith does not come without an effort and a burning desire to know the truth. One must study the gospel and ponder the words in their minds and hearts before they can receive a true, deep testimony.
Now, speaking of miracles, what is the greatest miracle of all time? The loaves and fish? Jesus walking on water? Jesus raising the dead? Healing the leper? I say to thee, nay! (Sorry, I couldn't help it.) The greatest of all miracles was the miracle of forgiveness. Think about forgiveness. Think about how difficult true forgiveness is. How difficult would it be for you to forgive someone who had killed your wife and two of your children because that person was driving drunk? Or how would you respond if you were a concentration camp survivor and was asked to be forgiven by one of the guards at your camp many years after you had been freed? And yet, we have been commanded to forgive all others; "I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men" (D&C 64:10). Not forgiving someone of theirs sin against you is actually a greater sin than whatever sin that person made against you. No joke. "Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; fr he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin." Now these two commandments may upset some of you, but I ask you, what are you doing when you are refusing to forgive someone?
You are denying that person the Atonement. You are saying that that person is not good enough to be saved by Christ. Who on this earth has the right to deny another person the Atonement? No one. Now, I'm not saying that everyone has to forgive everyone else of everything that has happened to them right this very second. Forgiveness takes time, and it takes effort. It's not something that happens right away always. But it is something that must happen, no matter how hard it is. How can we forgive someone? Well, we have a couple of heavy-hitting resources at our disposal; our Heavenly Father, our Lord and Savior, His atoning sacrifice, and the standard works (the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price). We have the odds stacked in our favor so that no matter what happens to us, we will have the power to overcome and move on.
I would challenge all of you to start doing as much as you can to gain/regain/strengthen your faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, and in his gospel and church. And once you have done that, I would challenge you to pray about his gospel to find out for yourself if it is true. I know for sure that this is the true church of Jesus Christ, and I know that through his atoning sacrifice I will be saved. I know that if I do all that I can to understand his gospel and to follow in the footsteps of Christ that I will be able to spend eternity with my family and my Heavenly Father. I know these things to be true, and I say them in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Ciao!
No comments:
Post a Comment