28.10.10
Excerpt From President Monson's Talk "Guideposts for Life's Journey"
As we look heavenward, we inevitably learn of our responsibility to reach outward.
To find real happiness, we must seek for it in a focus outside ourselves. No one has learned the meaning of living until he has surrendered his ego to the service of his fellow man. Service to others is akin to duty—the fulfillment of which brings true joy.
We do not live alone—in our city, our nation, or our world. There is no dividing line between our prosperity and our neighbor’s wretchedness. “Love thy neighbor” is more than a divine truth. It is a pattern for perfection. This truth inspires the familiar charge “Go forth to serve.” Try as some of us may, we cannot escape the influence our lives have upon the lives of others. Ours is the opportunity to build, to lift, to inspire, and indeed to lead.
The New Testament teaches that it is impossible to take a right attitude toward Christ without taking an unselfish attitude toward men. “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”6 We may think as we please, but there is no question about what the
Thomas S. Monson 5
Bible teaches. In the New Testament there is no road to the heart of God that does not lead through the heart of man.
The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that a true Latter-day Saint
is to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to provide for the widow, to dry up the tear of the orphan, to comfort the afflicted, whether in this church, or in any other, or in no church at all, wherever he finds them.
23.10.10
They Are Without God in the World
"All men that are in a state of nature, or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; they are without God in the world, and they have gone contrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness." -Alma 41:11
The great promise of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that if we believe and obey then we'll be happy. Maybe its hard to believe in that promise during a trial. Job passed through the hardships and were blessed. Job is usually the key example of having trials but all the righteous have to go through hardships. But, just like anything I've been asked to do in the Church, I don't regret it and I'm sure Job doesn't regret going through the trials. Its part of coming to a happier state that we grow and are able to overcome the trials.
"And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God." -Zech. 13:9
"Never be discouraged. If I were sunk in the lowest pits of Nova Scotia, with the Rocky Mountains piled on me, I would hang on, exercise faith, and keep up good courage, and I would come out on top." -Joseph Smith, Jr.
The key to living the gospel and being able to withstand the trials is faith. Without faith we can do nothing that pleases the Lord. Faith without works is dead, but also works without faith are dead. We can't keep the commandments unless we have faith in God and not in ourselves.
Baptists love to quote this scripture in defiance to the emphasis Latter Day Saints put on keeping the commandments- "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). But, there is no conflict of doctrine between the Latter Day Saints and this scripture. Faith must be in God and not of ourselves. We are to have faith in God be the motivation for keeping the commandments. Most of the Christians I've talked to seem to think this scripture lets you off the hook from having to repent or strive for perfection. It doesn't. This scripture proves that faith in God is necessary in our salvation and countless scriptures admonish us to keep the commandments, always seeking to repent of our "carnal" behaviors.
Sometimes we might notice that our faith is in ourselves and not in God when we are keeping the commandments but not happy. I suspect we think we can go through the motions of righteousness and expect a marvelous manifestation that validates our straining for keeping the commandments. Paul said that if we do things without faith then it is counted as evil unto us. We can't offer obedience without faith in Jesus Christ. That was the great mistake in Cain's offering to God. He didn't have faith in Jesus Christ and didn't make his offering in Christ's name and thus his hard work was rejected by God and Cain didn't receive a blessing. What a great lesson for us today! We have to keep the commandments with a pure heart, real intent, and with a faith in Jesus Christ that He will make up for what we lack. We must acknowledge our unworthiness and seek to serve with our whole might, mind, heart and strength. Then we will know when our offerings are acceptable unto the Lord by the Holy Ghost. We will feel happiness. We will have a contrite spirit and broken heart.
Going through the motions is a common problem. Its hard to make church an event if you go every week. Its hard to be impressed by a talk that you've heard a million times. Its hard to care after a while. I'm reminded of Brigham Young's counsel to those that don't feel like praying. He said to just keep trying and stay on your knees praying till you are filled with the Holy Ghost. Why is it hard? Because faith is something we must always seek after. We may have it but if we don't always seek it then it will slowly leave like a spirit leaving a body. The works then will be dead. We must strive to maintain the faith or we'll be without God in the world and we'll be unhappy.
The great promise of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that if we believe and obey then we'll be happy. Maybe its hard to believe in that promise during a trial. Job passed through the hardships and were blessed. Job is usually the key example of having trials but all the righteous have to go through hardships. But, just like anything I've been asked to do in the Church, I don't regret it and I'm sure Job doesn't regret going through the trials. Its part of coming to a happier state that we grow and are able to overcome the trials.
"And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God." -Zech. 13:9
"Never be discouraged. If I were sunk in the lowest pits of Nova Scotia, with the Rocky Mountains piled on me, I would hang on, exercise faith, and keep up good courage, and I would come out on top." -Joseph Smith, Jr.
The key to living the gospel and being able to withstand the trials is faith. Without faith we can do nothing that pleases the Lord. Faith without works is dead, but also works without faith are dead. We can't keep the commandments unless we have faith in God and not in ourselves.
Baptists love to quote this scripture in defiance to the emphasis Latter Day Saints put on keeping the commandments- "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). But, there is no conflict of doctrine between the Latter Day Saints and this scripture. Faith must be in God and not of ourselves. We are to have faith in God be the motivation for keeping the commandments. Most of the Christians I've talked to seem to think this scripture lets you off the hook from having to repent or strive for perfection. It doesn't. This scripture proves that faith in God is necessary in our salvation and countless scriptures admonish us to keep the commandments, always seeking to repent of our "carnal" behaviors.
Sometimes we might notice that our faith is in ourselves and not in God when we are keeping the commandments but not happy. I suspect we think we can go through the motions of righteousness and expect a marvelous manifestation that validates our straining for keeping the commandments. Paul said that if we do things without faith then it is counted as evil unto us. We can't offer obedience without faith in Jesus Christ. That was the great mistake in Cain's offering to God. He didn't have faith in Jesus Christ and didn't make his offering in Christ's name and thus his hard work was rejected by God and Cain didn't receive a blessing. What a great lesson for us today! We have to keep the commandments with a pure heart, real intent, and with a faith in Jesus Christ that He will make up for what we lack. We must acknowledge our unworthiness and seek to serve with our whole might, mind, heart and strength. Then we will know when our offerings are acceptable unto the Lord by the Holy Ghost. We will feel happiness. We will have a contrite spirit and broken heart.
Going through the motions is a common problem. Its hard to make church an event if you go every week. Its hard to be impressed by a talk that you've heard a million times. Its hard to care after a while. I'm reminded of Brigham Young's counsel to those that don't feel like praying. He said to just keep trying and stay on your knees praying till you are filled with the Holy Ghost. Why is it hard? Because faith is something we must always seek after. We may have it but if we don't always seek it then it will slowly leave like a spirit leaving a body. The works then will be dead. We must strive to maintain the faith or we'll be without God in the world and we'll be unhappy.
21.10.10
16.10.10
Preparing for the Higher Law
“The main purpose of the Doctrine and Covenants, you will find, is to implement the law of consecration....This law, the consummation of the laws of obedience and sacrifice, is the threshold of the celestial kingdom, the last and hardest requirement made of men [and women] in this life."
-Hugh Nibley
I think the LDS church is the only church that has a plan for how to live exactly how God would want us to if we were all converted fully to the Lord in our hearts. It would be Zion. The land of milk and honey and everyone would work but everyone would have. There would be no Haves and Have-nots. All would have and all would be fully nourished both physically and spiritually. This way of living is decidedly outlined in Doctrine and Covenants as well as all the scriptures (if taken to a logical step). In the Book of Mormon, the people are constantly commanded to repent for their pride and love of money. They're told to feed the hungry and clothe the naked with their riches. They're told to impart of their substance to all of God's children, that being the reason for having an abundance (Jacob 2:16-17).
But, the Christian Right in our politics today has hijacked the Christian message and turned it into Ayn Rand's message of "virtuous" selfishness. Many of our brethren in the LDS church are converted to the hatred of immigrants for wanting a better life, persecution of Muslims right to freedom of religion, many of our brethren think healthcare should only be for the rich, and that taxes in general should be done away with despite the need to keep schools and police in effect.
As the Savior said "Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." We can't hate our brethren or love them on certain conditions (American, Republican, white, rich, straight, etc.) Its commanded for us to love all men and women. All are worthy of our love. Not just those that think or act the way we do.
Homosexuals have been outraged at our church. We have been under fire for our beliefs and if you ask them they'll say the same thing, that they have been under fire for their beliefs. Both sides see it as one side picking on the other. Thats no excuse for hating them. We must accept all but reject the sin. Mormons have always believed in homosexual tendencies to be out of step with God's will. Its a very complicated issue but the law is clear; its not permitted to act on gay tendencies and its especially not permitted to persecute or make fun of anyone for being different.
Before we can live in the Celestial Kingdom we must live the Celestial laws. But, before we can live that law we must be willing to live the lower laws. We are not commanded to live by the United Order which says that we give all our goods to the Bishop Storehouse and then are allotted certain things depending on our needs. That is not commanded of us. Yet we still have the Law of Consecration which means that we are to give of our time and talent to the building up of the kingdom of God on the Earth. How do we keep this law? By keeping the commandments. Serving what we can, when we can, where we can and however we can. In other words, loving God will all our heart, might, mind and strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves. That is what is required of us. The Lord promises that those who keep the commandments will prosper. He will take care of us, if we sacrifice our lives to Him. The word sacrifice means literally “to make sacred,” or “to render sacred.”
Just as the righteous kept the law of Moses before Christ, "they did look forward to the coming of Christ, considering that the law of Moses was a type of his coming, and believing that they must keep those outward performances until the time that he should be revealed unto them." (Alma 15:15). We too must keep the commandments looking forward to the higher law that Christ will reveal to us when we're prepared to keep it. He won't give us something we can't keep and He will keep whatever we give Him.
"The law of sacrifice provides an opportunity for us to prove to the Lord that we love Him more than any other thing. As a result, the course sometimes becomes difficult since this is the process of perfection that prepares us for the celestial kingdom to '"dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever"' (D&C 76:62). -Elder M. Russell Ballard
“Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation; … it is through the medium of the sacrifice of all earthly things that men do actually know that they are doing the things that are well pleasing in the sight of God. When a man has offered in sacrifice all that he has for the truth’s sake, not even withholding his life, and believing before God that he has been called to make this sacrifice because he seeks to do his will, he does know, most assuredly, that God does and will accept his sacrifice and offering, and that he has not, nor will not seek his face in vain. Under these circumstances, then, he can obtain the faith necessary for him to lay hold on eternal life”
-Joseph Smith
“Real, personal sacrifice never was placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and letting it be consumed!”
-Elder Neal A. Maxwell
-Hugh Nibley
I think the LDS church is the only church that has a plan for how to live exactly how God would want us to if we were all converted fully to the Lord in our hearts. It would be Zion. The land of milk and honey and everyone would work but everyone would have. There would be no Haves and Have-nots. All would have and all would be fully nourished both physically and spiritually. This way of living is decidedly outlined in Doctrine and Covenants as well as all the scriptures (if taken to a logical step). In the Book of Mormon, the people are constantly commanded to repent for their pride and love of money. They're told to feed the hungry and clothe the naked with their riches. They're told to impart of their substance to all of God's children, that being the reason for having an abundance (Jacob 2:16-17).
But, the Christian Right in our politics today has hijacked the Christian message and turned it into Ayn Rand's message of "virtuous" selfishness. Many of our brethren in the LDS church are converted to the hatred of immigrants for wanting a better life, persecution of Muslims right to freedom of religion, many of our brethren think healthcare should only be for the rich, and that taxes in general should be done away with despite the need to keep schools and police in effect.
As the Savior said "Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." We can't hate our brethren or love them on certain conditions (American, Republican, white, rich, straight, etc.) Its commanded for us to love all men and women. All are worthy of our love. Not just those that think or act the way we do.
Homosexuals have been outraged at our church. We have been under fire for our beliefs and if you ask them they'll say the same thing, that they have been under fire for their beliefs. Both sides see it as one side picking on the other. Thats no excuse for hating them. We must accept all but reject the sin. Mormons have always believed in homosexual tendencies to be out of step with God's will. Its a very complicated issue but the law is clear; its not permitted to act on gay tendencies and its especially not permitted to persecute or make fun of anyone for being different.
Before we can live in the Celestial Kingdom we must live the Celestial laws. But, before we can live that law we must be willing to live the lower laws. We are not commanded to live by the United Order which says that we give all our goods to the Bishop Storehouse and then are allotted certain things depending on our needs. That is not commanded of us. Yet we still have the Law of Consecration which means that we are to give of our time and talent to the building up of the kingdom of God on the Earth. How do we keep this law? By keeping the commandments. Serving what we can, when we can, where we can and however we can. In other words, loving God will all our heart, might, mind and strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves. That is what is required of us. The Lord promises that those who keep the commandments will prosper. He will take care of us, if we sacrifice our lives to Him. The word sacrifice means literally “to make sacred,” or “to render sacred.”
Just as the righteous kept the law of Moses before Christ, "they did look forward to the coming of Christ, considering that the law of Moses was a type of his coming, and believing that they must keep those outward performances until the time that he should be revealed unto them." (Alma 15:15). We too must keep the commandments looking forward to the higher law that Christ will reveal to us when we're prepared to keep it. He won't give us something we can't keep and He will keep whatever we give Him.
"The law of sacrifice provides an opportunity for us to prove to the Lord that we love Him more than any other thing. As a result, the course sometimes becomes difficult since this is the process of perfection that prepares us for the celestial kingdom to '"dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever"' (D&C 76:62). -Elder M. Russell Ballard
“Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation; … it is through the medium of the sacrifice of all earthly things that men do actually know that they are doing the things that are well pleasing in the sight of God. When a man has offered in sacrifice all that he has for the truth’s sake, not even withholding his life, and believing before God that he has been called to make this sacrifice because he seeks to do his will, he does know, most assuredly, that God does and will accept his sacrifice and offering, and that he has not, nor will not seek his face in vain. Under these circumstances, then, he can obtain the faith necessary for him to lay hold on eternal life”
-Joseph Smith
“Real, personal sacrifice never was placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and letting it be consumed!”
-Elder Neal A. Maxwell
8.10.10
Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You
The Savior proposed the "Golden Rule" which has been repeated through out history and is thus- Do unto others as you would have others do unto you."
A thing I think is significant of Christianity is the Savior's admonition to "Love your enemies" etc. Usually the world understands that justice means doing unto others as they have done unto you but there is a stipulation in Christianity that says to do good unto those that do bad to you.
Often there are accounts in Mormon history of when the Saints could have retaliated against their oppressors and avenge the injustices upon them. Instead they departed into the wilderness, a common theme in the scriptures. Always the Lord advises his followers to flee from the evil world into the wilderness. The interesting thing is people are asked to leave their comfort zone for the Lord. Abraham wasn't comfortable with having to sacrifice his only son but he was willing. Its not easy to love your enemies. "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ..." (Mosiah 3:19).
There is lots of scripture talk of accountability our works. We'll be judged for our works and we get the reward according to our righteousness. Its often discussed in the scriptures of how we must be forgiving because with the judgment we give, we'll receive as well. If you are merciful then the Lord will be merciful to you. Very simple trade offs.
One of the remarkable things I've noticed is that of the state of war veterans. The guys on the front line of war are causing great destruction to enemies and then leave for home (if they don't die) but they can't leave war. Their service is admirable but the effects of the destruction is unquestionable. There are more accounts of suicide than the number of fatalities in the current war in Iraq. Their actions against the enemies are just as destructive on themselves. I don't mean to indict the army but the war itself. War is never free of an enormous amount of pain and death. There comes a time to fight for those that can't defend themselves but we can all do to gain a great amount of peace from not going to war.
Its not just in wars but in any instance of injury or hateful contention caused against another that will cause a great destruction in ourselves. The businessman who cuts the deal but leaves out a lot of people in the cold, the gossiping friend who causes friends to turn against another, the rapist who must look himself in the mirror and see a rapist, etc. The point is, the Golden Rule works both ways, not only should we treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves but we must treat others as if they were ourselves because the damage we do to others is damage to ourselves. We hurt ourselves when we hurt others.
Reminds me of the commandments the Lord gives on sacrificing our lives for the Lord's sake. Its not only for the Lord's sake but its for ours. If we sacrifice our lusts and pride to the Lord, then He will bless us with a fulfillment of the soul and a life eternal. The commandment to give to others is vital to our salvation and a blessing to others, its win-win. Not only do those that are suffering get help but you are blessed by not letting that devil of selfishness tear a hole in your soul and an unquenchable fire in your conscience. You can't cover up your obligations to God with anything but what He requires; a broken heart and contrite spirit, as that is what is needed to change a person from an enemy of God into a Saint through the atonement of Christ.
A thing I think is significant of Christianity is the Savior's admonition to "Love your enemies" etc. Usually the world understands that justice means doing unto others as they have done unto you but there is a stipulation in Christianity that says to do good unto those that do bad to you.
Often there are accounts in Mormon history of when the Saints could have retaliated against their oppressors and avenge the injustices upon them. Instead they departed into the wilderness, a common theme in the scriptures. Always the Lord advises his followers to flee from the evil world into the wilderness. The interesting thing is people are asked to leave their comfort zone for the Lord. Abraham wasn't comfortable with having to sacrifice his only son but he was willing. Its not easy to love your enemies. "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ..." (Mosiah 3:19).
There is lots of scripture talk of accountability our works. We'll be judged for our works and we get the reward according to our righteousness. Its often discussed in the scriptures of how we must be forgiving because with the judgment we give, we'll receive as well. If you are merciful then the Lord will be merciful to you. Very simple trade offs.
One of the remarkable things I've noticed is that of the state of war veterans. The guys on the front line of war are causing great destruction to enemies and then leave for home (if they don't die) but they can't leave war. Their service is admirable but the effects of the destruction is unquestionable. There are more accounts of suicide than the number of fatalities in the current war in Iraq. Their actions against the enemies are just as destructive on themselves. I don't mean to indict the army but the war itself. War is never free of an enormous amount of pain and death. There comes a time to fight for those that can't defend themselves but we can all do to gain a great amount of peace from not going to war.
Its not just in wars but in any instance of injury or hateful contention caused against another that will cause a great destruction in ourselves. The businessman who cuts the deal but leaves out a lot of people in the cold, the gossiping friend who causes friends to turn against another, the rapist who must look himself in the mirror and see a rapist, etc. The point is, the Golden Rule works both ways, not only should we treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves but we must treat others as if they were ourselves because the damage we do to others is damage to ourselves. We hurt ourselves when we hurt others.
Reminds me of the commandments the Lord gives on sacrificing our lives for the Lord's sake. Its not only for the Lord's sake but its for ours. If we sacrifice our lusts and pride to the Lord, then He will bless us with a fulfillment of the soul and a life eternal. The commandment to give to others is vital to our salvation and a blessing to others, its win-win. Not only do those that are suffering get help but you are blessed by not letting that devil of selfishness tear a hole in your soul and an unquenchable fire in your conscience. You can't cover up your obligations to God with anything but what He requires; a broken heart and contrite spirit, as that is what is needed to change a person from an enemy of God into a Saint through the atonement of Christ.
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