A couple years ago I was teaching a lesson on repentance. Unexpectedly, I felt inspired to talk about the following story from Luke 7:
And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.
And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. (v. 36-39)
From there, Jesus then tells this Pharisee a parable as a way of teaching him that the woman had changed; she was no longer a sinner—she was a Saint. As I finished telling this story, I felt inspired to say, “The Pharisee had seen this woman as a sinner; but Christ knew who she was—He knew she had changed. She had been redefined. She was no longer a sinner, but a woman of Christ. She had redefined herself through repentance, made possible by Christ.”
And, really, isn’t that what repentance is: The chance to shed your old self and replace it with a new, improved self? Since that experience, I’ve spent some time pondering on the phrase: “Redefinition through repentance.”
To me, repentance is another word for self-improvement. Repentance represents progression. You examine your life, and you say, “This is who I am” and “This is who I want to be,” and then with Christ’s help, you try to make up the difference. In this way, you are redefining who you are—You are saying to yourself, “I can change! I can be better!” You recognize that Christ can and will take away the ugly parts of our past. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said, “Yesterday need not hold tomorrow hostage.”
Who we were yesterday does not forecast who we will be tomorrow—for we each have the ability to change, to replace character flaws with character traits.
This is a particularly beautiful thought because we all have done some things that we would prefer not to remembered by. Personally, I want some actions off my record. I don’t want them to define who I am. Fortunately, through repentance, these actions are off my record and they do not define me. For the Lord has said: “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more” (D&C 58:42). Of this verse, President Boyd K. Packer said, “Could there be any more sweeter or more consoling words, more filled with hope, than those words from the scriptures? ‘I, the Lord, remember [their sins] no more.’” I agree with President Packer: God’s willingness to forgive and forget is a beautiful doctrine. As long as we have cleared our record through the process of repentance, He will remember us only the good things about us. This particular attribute of the Savior’s—His willingness to forgive and forget—reflects that His mercy truly is infinite.
While He will forget our sins, I hope we never forget how it feels to be rescued from those sins. I hope we never forget the feeling of peace that comes with repentance. I hope we never forget the relief of having that burden of sin lifted from our shoulders.
Remembering the joys of repentance will motivate us to do several things:
First, it cultivates in us a gratitude for the Savior’s Atonement.. President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., once said, “I feel that [the Savior] will give that punishment which is the very least that our transgression will justify. … I believe that when it comes to making the rewards for our good conduct, he will give us the maximum that it is possible to give.” Any careful reading of the scriptures will reveal that such is the case. More importantly, any careful recounting of one’s life will reveal that Christ has indeed sought to minimize our hurt and maximize our joy. That’s why He is both our Redeemer and our Friend.
Secondly, the joy of repentance should motivate us to make the change permanent. That joy will give us courage to make the changes we need to make to align our lives with Christ’s. That is oftentimes a daunting process, but the joy of coming unto Christ through repentance will increase our drawer nearer unto Him always..
Remember: Change is possible. Said Elaine S. Dalton, “[A] group of youth adopted the motto “I Can Do Hard Things.” They understand their identity, their mission, their source of guidance, and they receive strength through keeping their covenants. They also understand that when they make a mistake, they can change! Satan wants all of us to think that repentance is not possible. This is absolutely not true. The Savior has promised forgiveness.” Important to this doctrine is realizing that the redemptive power of the Atonement removes the sins, and the enabling power of the Atonement strengthens us to make that change possible.
Thirdly, remembering the peaceful feeling that accompanies repentance will help us to forgive ourselves. Said President Boyd K. Packer: “Sometimes even after confession and penalties, the most difficult part of repentance is to forgive oneself.” President Joseph Fielding Smith told of a woman who had repented of immoral conduct and was struggling to find her way. She asked him what she should do now. In turn, he asked her to read to him from the Old Testament the account of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Lot, and of Lot’s wife, who was turned to a pillar of salt. Then he asked her what lesson those verses held for her.
She answered, “The Lord will destroy those who are wicked.”
“Not so,” President Smith told this repentant woman. “The lesson for you is, Don’t look back!”
Too often, the feelings of guilt take centerstage. But if Christ has forgiven us, isn’t that wallowing just a bunch of worthless worry? In the words of Elder Richard G. Scott: “Don’t live your life in despair, feeling sorry for yourself because of the mistakes you have made. Let the sunshine in by doing the right things—now.”
Finally, remembering the joy of repentance should create in us a desire to help others come unto Christ. A truly penitent person seeks for others to experience that same joy. Let’s revisit the story of the woman washing Jesus’ feet with her tears.
We can miss an important lesson here if we ignore the Pharisee. Simon the Pharisee shared many of the shortsighted views that his fellow Pharisees did. It appears he invited Christ to dinner not to honor the Savior—but to find fault with the Savior. One scholar explains: “It may well be that Simon hoped to observe (or contrive) some event in which he could find cause to turn the multitudes away from Christ” (Ted E. Gibbons).
This was a common practice among the Pharisees: trying to find a fault in the Savior, for Christ was disrupting the pleasure they had in judging themselves to be more righteous than the rest of the. In short, the Pharisees were too busy looking down at Jesus to realize they needed to kneel down to Jesus.
The true gospel counters this damaging attitude of self-righteousness, as disciples are urged to be meek. Said Elder Maxwell: “Meekness ranks low on the mortal scale of things, yet high on God's: `For none is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart' (Moro. 7:44). Meekness is critical in repentance because it recognizes the need for the Savior. None of us could be saved on our own merits—we all need Him. It would be senseless—and truly unmeek—to say that I need the Savior less than you.
King Benjamin, in imploring his people to be charitable, said, “For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being . . .?” (Mosiah 4:19). Since we all depend on the same God, we cannot justly say: We are better or more righteous. Rather our focus should be on keeping ourselves pure and helping others overcome their sins. The Pharisees competed to be the most righteous—resultantly, they were only interested in saving themselves, as saving others would mean more competition; in contrast, true Saints aren’t competing with each other rather they work together—resultantly, they are interested in the salvation of all men. Perhaps Nephi said it best when he ended his record, saying, “And I pray the Father in the name of Christ that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his kingdom at that great and last day” (2 Nephi 33:12).
As I consider this story of this woman, I can’t help but see the similarities to the story of a good friend of mine. During our sophomore year of high school, this friend of mine had made some serious mistakes. Like the woman in this story, she developed an unfavorable reputation—and rumors began to circulate about her.
But during our junior year, she changed—she repented and made the changes that she needed to make. It was a real struggle for her. But she persevered, and through repentance, redefined herself: she was a woman of God. I remember toward the end of that year, they had a microphone and camera set up in the seminary lobby for people to go bear their testimonies, which were then broadcast to each of the classrooms.
As she bore her testimony of the Savior, I could hear a couple of guys behind cackling that she would be bearing a testimony. That really bothered me. She had changed. She had been forgiven. She had been redefined. And just as Simon the Pharisee misjudged the woman who came into his house, these guys misjudged my friend.
As I reflected on that this week, I came across this question in the manual: “How would Simon’s attitude toward the woman have made her burden seem heavier?” As I relate this experience to that of my friend’s, I know the rumors hurt her—I know those rumors served to damage her self-worth and her resolve to make the needed changes. It’s almost ironic that these two guys sitting in seminary, probably preparing for a mission to go out and save souls, didn’t realize that their participation in these rumors caused so much harm to a soul that needed saving. Perhaps they too could have benefited from the parable the Savior told Simon—the point of which is when great sins are forgiven, the penitent shows great love for the Savior.
The lesson here may well be this: We all are going to make mistakes. None of us want those mistakes to define us. The truth is: We all need a Savior. To each of us, a Savior is provided. Wrote Nephi: “[Christ] inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him.” Because of the Atonement, our mistakes don’t need to define us. But because we want that chance to redefine and refine ourselves through Christ’s Atonement, we also need to afford others that same chance. In that spirit, perhaps we need to be slower to judge and quicker to love. In doing so, we show our reverence for the Atonement, we acknowledge that we too have been and will continue to be rescued from our sins. Once on the strait-and-narrow, we shouldn’t be in such a rush that we fail to stop and help lift someone onto the path. By helping others come unto Christ, we show our gratitude for the Atonement. After all, we know that those who today are sinners may tomorrow be redefined as Saints.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Grey Go Away: "Not black and white; right and wrong"
I was over at the Schudde Shack a few weeks ago when Jeremy and I began discussing a book he had been reading called Men of Valor. In the middle of this discussion, I asked Jeremy, “What one thing do you think good men need to fight against?” Jeremy gave his answer, and just then his phone rang, so I had a few minutes to think about how I wanted to answer the same question: What one thing do I think good men to need to fight against?
My first impulse was to say pornography—a damning practice that destroys families. But then I thought fighting against abortions might be a stronger cause. I had a few other things run through my head—what about drugs? Or alcohol? Or promiscuity? What about standing up for women? Certainly the good men of the world need come to the defense of a womanhood because it is a sacred institution that Satan is unquestionably assaulting. I thought about all this things while Jeremy kept yakking away on his cell phone.
But as I thought about it, it dawned on me that there is one thing under which all these horrible practices fall. This one thing serves as an umbrella of evil. It’s not an action I wanted to fight against; it was a philosophy. A philosophy that says all of this—pornography, abortions, drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, and the sexualizing of women—is acceptable. It’s a philosophy that has seeped into the conscience of many and drives the laissez faire approach to morality that Satan wants. The philosophy of which I speak is known as moral relativism.
So what is moral relativism? Let me define this by using an example offered by Elder Sterling W. Sill: “One young woman was recently asked by a reporter for Look magazine if she thought it was wrong to break the Ten Commandments. She said, ‘Who am I to say what is right or wrong?’” Did you catch that? Because this girl’s statement is a good definition of moral relativism—Who am I to say what is right or wrong? A more specific definition of moral relativism is this: It’s the belief that there is no absolute moral right or wrong; rather, all morals are situational and circumstantial. Of particular importance to the construct of moral relativism is 20th Century anthropologist Ruth Benedict who argued that morals don’t exist; only customs do; as such, it is wrong for people to make moral judgments.
In other words, you see moral relativism expressed as (1) there is no absolute moral standard, (2) all morals are situational and circumstantial and (3) “Who am I to say what is right or wrong?” Can you see how such a philosophy conflicts with God’s laws? All three prongs of moral relativism have direct rebukes from the True and Everlasting Gospel. For we know there is an absolute moral standard—and it’s God’s standard. Nor is there a situational morality, for we are called to be witnesses of Christ in all times and in all places. As for the attitude of who am I to say what is right or wrong, if you read the JST on Matthew 7:1, it reads, “Judge not unrighteously, that ye be not judged: but judge righteous judgment.” It is okay to be judgmental, as long as you do it righteously. Because there is right and wrong in the world. And good men need to stand up for what’s right. After all, we have been told, time and again the quote by Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” This past summer, I was again at the Schudde Shack—where else would I be?—and Jeremy and I were watching A Clear and Present Danger. In a particular scene in that movie, the lead character, Jack Ryan, played by Harrison Ford, confronts a man who he knows is behind an illegal military action. The man snarls at Agent Ryan and says to him, “Eveything is black and white to you.” I love Harrison Ford’s reply: “Not black and white; right and wrong.”
Moral relativism teaches just the opposite: There is no right or wrong; just shades of gray. Said Elder Richard B. Wirthlin, “Societies structured by situational ethics—the belief that all truths are relative—create a moral environment defined by undistinguished shades of gray.” Why is this important? Why is it necessary for us to take a stand? Why is necessary for us to classify things as right or wrong?
Let me answer that with this quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:
Recently I read an author who said: “Our leisure, even our play, is a matter of serious concern. [That is because] there is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.” I believe that to be absolutely true, and no such claiming and counterclaiming anywhere is more crucial and conspicuous than that being waged for the minds and morals, the personal purity of the young.
If there is no neutral ground, as Elder Holland asserts, then is there really any gray? Is there any room for moral ambiguity? Is there any time to sit on our hands and watch the spreading evil capture another soul?
Now moral relativism is a relatively young philosophy—it has 18th Century roots but was popularized only recently. So you would think that since this is phenomenon that has occurred since the Book of Mormon was published that that sacred text would give us no guidelines for how to combat this new philosophy. But you would be wrong. As if to confirm to us that the Book of Mormon truly was written for our day, the Book contains an account of a moral relativist trying to lead the people astray. This man is Korihor, the antichrist and a moral relavist through and through.
I want to quote now from what one church scholar wrote about Korihor:
A third argument used by Korihor is that of relativism: “… and whatsoever a man did was no crime.” (Alma 30:17.) A fuller statement of this attack by Korihor is as follows: Since (he claims) there is no god and men do not live after death, and since (he claims) all so-called “laws” and “commandments” are but social conveniences to give power to priests, the only important thing in life is to do what you want to do—if you can get away with it. How modern Korihor sounds! But the argument is timeless, as old as sin itself.
There are, of course, many versions of relativism (one would hardly expect relativism to be absolute). One version encourages enjoyment of the Church social organization without getting uptight about theology or religious commandments.
Another kind of relativism says that the commandments are great but open to broad private interpretation. A third acknowledges that there are commandments, but allows indulgence in sin since “nobody’s perfect.” A fourth version says that the commandments were okay when they were given, but they have become superfluous in our enlightened age. A fifth kind of relativism, that used by Korihor, says that the commandments were bad from the first; they are inhibitions on the soul of man that actually prevent him from ever achieving happiness. A sixth type, also used by Korihor, says that since one act is indifferent from another, it doesn’t matter what we do.
The great power of all relativistic approaches is that they allow the individual to judge his own actions. This is why almost any of the approaches strikes a responsive, sympathetic chord in all other relativists. Korihor found many who were pleased with his relativism, even though they may have rejected much else of what he said. “And thus he did preach unto them, leading away the hearts of many, causing them to lift up their heads in their wickedness.” (Alma 30:18.)
Let me interrupt because I think there’s a key phrase in that verse from Alma 30. It’s the one that tells us Korihor’s preachings on moral relativism caused the people “to lift up their heads in wickedness” (Alma 30:18). Isn’t that the whole point of relativism? To get people to say there is no harm in what I am doing? To get people to rationalize their sins? To get people to act under the false guise that there is no consequence to their action? Too many people are searching for ways to justify what they want to do, and not enough are searching for what God wants them to do. I really like what Jeremy said when we were first discussing this a few weeks, when he said: “If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.” I think fall is the operative word because if you are not committed to Christ, if you are not committed to align your ways to his, then the natural man will reign you—and you will fall off the gospel course. There is no such thing a consequence-less action. Said Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin: “Each choice has a consequence. Each consequence, a destination.”
Think of it this way: Let’s say someone who doesn’t know anything about you decided to observe you for a day; by watching you live an average day in your life, could that person conclude you are LDS? The allure of moral relativism is the false belief that if there is no right or wrong, then there can be consequences to our decisions; resultantly, subscribers to this false philosophy embrace their wickedness or “lift up their heads in wickedness.” They believe there are no consequences to their actions. They are like Cain, when after killing Abel, he said, “I am free.” But he would soon find that freeing act had instead condemned him to an eternal punishment.
Sometimes, when we get caught up in rationalizing our decisions, we forget the consequences—the pain our actions can bring to ourselves and to others, the poor sermon we are teaching by our example. And we are, to paraphrase Brother Solomon, giving up what we want most for what we want right now.
Let’s return to our scholar’s account of moral relativism:
In stark contrast to the virtually infinite number of personal choices available in the broad way of relativism is the way of the Savior. That strait and narrow way is to do as he did: not to seek our own will, but to do the will of Him who sent us. It is to obey him in all things, obeying his word, which is his law, as it is freshly written in our hearts from revelation to revelation. It is to rely solely upon his merits, counting him as the only fountain of righteousness. It is being willing to die for his sake, crucifying the old person with worldly wants and desires in order to be born again “as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” (Mosiah 3:19.)
Thus the gospel teaches a way that is absolute—absolute in that the formula for righteousness is always the same for every person and for every time and circumstance: take the name of Christ, always remember him, keep all of the commandments that he gives unto us. There is no other way to righteousness, for whatsoever is not of faith in Christ is sin.
But there is one thing relativism can never do, even within the Church. One who subscribes to any of the versions of relativism just listed will never (unless he repents) be brought to those sacrifices that will prepare his soul to spend an eternity in blessing others. Relativism can never purify heart and mind, or transform body and countenance into the image of the Savior.
— Chauncey C. Riddle
It should be noted that near the end of Korihor’s attempt to pervert Nephite culture, he is confronted by the prophet Alma.
And Alma uses these strong words to condemn Korihor, saying: “Behold, I know that thou believest, but thou art possessed with a lying spirit, and ye have put off the Spirit of God that it may have no place in you; but the devil has power over you, and he doth carry you about, working devices that he may destroy the children of God” (Alma 30:42). To be a relativist, Korihor had to, first, lie to himself by shutting out the Spirit and erasing the memory of his testimony. Then, when he was fully in the devil’s power, he used the devil’s devices. Perhaps the most seductive and devilish device Korihior had in his arsenal was the concept of relativism. We are told frequently that “by their fruits, ye shall know them.” These are Korihor’s fruit: “And thus he did preach unto them, leading away the hearts of many, causing them to lift up their heads in their wickedness, yea, leading away many women, and also men, to commit whoredoms.” He had rotten fruit because he was rotten. Only misery will come from the belief that moral are relative.
Conversely, happines comes from following the commandments. At the last General Conference, Elder Larry W. Gibbons said: “In this day of moral relativism we must be prepared to take a stand and say, “This is right, and this is wrong.” We cannot follow the crowd! Now, I am not suggesting, of course, that we move to the wilderness and lock our doors. We can be in the world, go to school, go to work, join worthwhile community organizations, and so forth. But we must hold to the Lord’s standards.”
Really, I can boil what I am trying to say today down to this: Morals matter. The commandments matter. Our ability to live the commandments shape our character. Our ability to be men of character will shape the world.
We live in a world of right or wrong. In a world where so many are lost and stumbling, we, the priesthood of God, must act. We must stand firmly rooted in the principles of the Gospel. We are called to stand between evil and the children of men and direct the children of men to Christ. If we don’t, then who will? “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” We are called to be the good men who work to ensure that right prevails and evil fails. I pray that we will rise to this task. In that spirit, I end by quoting Lehi: “Arise from the dust … and be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity” (2 Nephi 1:21).
My first impulse was to say pornography—a damning practice that destroys families. But then I thought fighting against abortions might be a stronger cause. I had a few other things run through my head—what about drugs? Or alcohol? Or promiscuity? What about standing up for women? Certainly the good men of the world need come to the defense of a womanhood because it is a sacred institution that Satan is unquestionably assaulting. I thought about all this things while Jeremy kept yakking away on his cell phone.
But as I thought about it, it dawned on me that there is one thing under which all these horrible practices fall. This one thing serves as an umbrella of evil. It’s not an action I wanted to fight against; it was a philosophy. A philosophy that says all of this—pornography, abortions, drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, and the sexualizing of women—is acceptable. It’s a philosophy that has seeped into the conscience of many and drives the laissez faire approach to morality that Satan wants. The philosophy of which I speak is known as moral relativism.
So what is moral relativism? Let me define this by using an example offered by Elder Sterling W. Sill: “One young woman was recently asked by a reporter for Look magazine if she thought it was wrong to break the Ten Commandments. She said, ‘Who am I to say what is right or wrong?’” Did you catch that? Because this girl’s statement is a good definition of moral relativism—Who am I to say what is right or wrong? A more specific definition of moral relativism is this: It’s the belief that there is no absolute moral right or wrong; rather, all morals are situational and circumstantial. Of particular importance to the construct of moral relativism is 20th Century anthropologist Ruth Benedict who argued that morals don’t exist; only customs do; as such, it is wrong for people to make moral judgments.
In other words, you see moral relativism expressed as (1) there is no absolute moral standard, (2) all morals are situational and circumstantial and (3) “Who am I to say what is right or wrong?” Can you see how such a philosophy conflicts with God’s laws? All three prongs of moral relativism have direct rebukes from the True and Everlasting Gospel. For we know there is an absolute moral standard—and it’s God’s standard. Nor is there a situational morality, for we are called to be witnesses of Christ in all times and in all places. As for the attitude of who am I to say what is right or wrong, if you read the JST on Matthew 7:1, it reads, “Judge not unrighteously, that ye be not judged: but judge righteous judgment.” It is okay to be judgmental, as long as you do it righteously. Because there is right and wrong in the world. And good men need to stand up for what’s right. After all, we have been told, time and again the quote by Edmund Burke, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” This past summer, I was again at the Schudde Shack—where else would I be?—and Jeremy and I were watching A Clear and Present Danger. In a particular scene in that movie, the lead character, Jack Ryan, played by Harrison Ford, confronts a man who he knows is behind an illegal military action. The man snarls at Agent Ryan and says to him, “Eveything is black and white to you.” I love Harrison Ford’s reply: “Not black and white; right and wrong.”
Moral relativism teaches just the opposite: There is no right or wrong; just shades of gray. Said Elder Richard B. Wirthlin, “Societies structured by situational ethics—the belief that all truths are relative—create a moral environment defined by undistinguished shades of gray.” Why is this important? Why is it necessary for us to take a stand? Why is necessary for us to classify things as right or wrong?
Let me answer that with this quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:
Recently I read an author who said: “Our leisure, even our play, is a matter of serious concern. [That is because] there is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.” I believe that to be absolutely true, and no such claiming and counterclaiming anywhere is more crucial and conspicuous than that being waged for the minds and morals, the personal purity of the young.
If there is no neutral ground, as Elder Holland asserts, then is there really any gray? Is there any room for moral ambiguity? Is there any time to sit on our hands and watch the spreading evil capture another soul?
Now moral relativism is a relatively young philosophy—it has 18th Century roots but was popularized only recently. So you would think that since this is phenomenon that has occurred since the Book of Mormon was published that that sacred text would give us no guidelines for how to combat this new philosophy. But you would be wrong. As if to confirm to us that the Book of Mormon truly was written for our day, the Book contains an account of a moral relativist trying to lead the people astray. This man is Korihor, the antichrist and a moral relavist through and through.
I want to quote now from what one church scholar wrote about Korihor:
A third argument used by Korihor is that of relativism: “… and whatsoever a man did was no crime.” (Alma 30:17.) A fuller statement of this attack by Korihor is as follows: Since (he claims) there is no god and men do not live after death, and since (he claims) all so-called “laws” and “commandments” are but social conveniences to give power to priests, the only important thing in life is to do what you want to do—if you can get away with it. How modern Korihor sounds! But the argument is timeless, as old as sin itself.
There are, of course, many versions of relativism (one would hardly expect relativism to be absolute). One version encourages enjoyment of the Church social organization without getting uptight about theology or religious commandments.
Another kind of relativism says that the commandments are great but open to broad private interpretation. A third acknowledges that there are commandments, but allows indulgence in sin since “nobody’s perfect.” A fourth version says that the commandments were okay when they were given, but they have become superfluous in our enlightened age. A fifth kind of relativism, that used by Korihor, says that the commandments were bad from the first; they are inhibitions on the soul of man that actually prevent him from ever achieving happiness. A sixth type, also used by Korihor, says that since one act is indifferent from another, it doesn’t matter what we do.
The great power of all relativistic approaches is that they allow the individual to judge his own actions. This is why almost any of the approaches strikes a responsive, sympathetic chord in all other relativists. Korihor found many who were pleased with his relativism, even though they may have rejected much else of what he said. “And thus he did preach unto them, leading away the hearts of many, causing them to lift up their heads in their wickedness.” (Alma 30:18.)
Let me interrupt because I think there’s a key phrase in that verse from Alma 30. It’s the one that tells us Korihor’s preachings on moral relativism caused the people “to lift up their heads in wickedness” (Alma 30:18). Isn’t that the whole point of relativism? To get people to say there is no harm in what I am doing? To get people to rationalize their sins? To get people to act under the false guise that there is no consequence to their action? Too many people are searching for ways to justify what they want to do, and not enough are searching for what God wants them to do. I really like what Jeremy said when we were first discussing this a few weeks, when he said: “If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.” I think fall is the operative word because if you are not committed to Christ, if you are not committed to align your ways to his, then the natural man will reign you—and you will fall off the gospel course. There is no such thing a consequence-less action. Said Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin: “Each choice has a consequence. Each consequence, a destination.”
Think of it this way: Let’s say someone who doesn’t know anything about you decided to observe you for a day; by watching you live an average day in your life, could that person conclude you are LDS? The allure of moral relativism is the false belief that if there is no right or wrong, then there can be consequences to our decisions; resultantly, subscribers to this false philosophy embrace their wickedness or “lift up their heads in wickedness.” They believe there are no consequences to their actions. They are like Cain, when after killing Abel, he said, “I am free.” But he would soon find that freeing act had instead condemned him to an eternal punishment.
Sometimes, when we get caught up in rationalizing our decisions, we forget the consequences—the pain our actions can bring to ourselves and to others, the poor sermon we are teaching by our example. And we are, to paraphrase Brother Solomon, giving up what we want most for what we want right now.
Let’s return to our scholar’s account of moral relativism:
In stark contrast to the virtually infinite number of personal choices available in the broad way of relativism is the way of the Savior. That strait and narrow way is to do as he did: not to seek our own will, but to do the will of Him who sent us. It is to obey him in all things, obeying his word, which is his law, as it is freshly written in our hearts from revelation to revelation. It is to rely solely upon his merits, counting him as the only fountain of righteousness. It is being willing to die for his sake, crucifying the old person with worldly wants and desires in order to be born again “as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” (Mosiah 3:19.)
Thus the gospel teaches a way that is absolute—absolute in that the formula for righteousness is always the same for every person and for every time and circumstance: take the name of Christ, always remember him, keep all of the commandments that he gives unto us. There is no other way to righteousness, for whatsoever is not of faith in Christ is sin.
But there is one thing relativism can never do, even within the Church. One who subscribes to any of the versions of relativism just listed will never (unless he repents) be brought to those sacrifices that will prepare his soul to spend an eternity in blessing others. Relativism can never purify heart and mind, or transform body and countenance into the image of the Savior.
— Chauncey C. Riddle
It should be noted that near the end of Korihor’s attempt to pervert Nephite culture, he is confronted by the prophet Alma.
And Alma uses these strong words to condemn Korihor, saying: “Behold, I know that thou believest, but thou art possessed with a lying spirit, and ye have put off the Spirit of God that it may have no place in you; but the devil has power over you, and he doth carry you about, working devices that he may destroy the children of God” (Alma 30:42). To be a relativist, Korihor had to, first, lie to himself by shutting out the Spirit and erasing the memory of his testimony. Then, when he was fully in the devil’s power, he used the devil’s devices. Perhaps the most seductive and devilish device Korihior had in his arsenal was the concept of relativism. We are told frequently that “by their fruits, ye shall know them.” These are Korihor’s fruit: “And thus he did preach unto them, leading away the hearts of many, causing them to lift up their heads in their wickedness, yea, leading away many women, and also men, to commit whoredoms.” He had rotten fruit because he was rotten. Only misery will come from the belief that moral are relative.
Conversely, happines comes from following the commandments. At the last General Conference, Elder Larry W. Gibbons said: “In this day of moral relativism we must be prepared to take a stand and say, “This is right, and this is wrong.” We cannot follow the crowd! Now, I am not suggesting, of course, that we move to the wilderness and lock our doors. We can be in the world, go to school, go to work, join worthwhile community organizations, and so forth. But we must hold to the Lord’s standards.”
Really, I can boil what I am trying to say today down to this: Morals matter. The commandments matter. Our ability to live the commandments shape our character. Our ability to be men of character will shape the world.
We live in a world of right or wrong. In a world where so many are lost and stumbling, we, the priesthood of God, must act. We must stand firmly rooted in the principles of the Gospel. We are called to stand between evil and the children of men and direct the children of men to Christ. If we don’t, then who will? “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” We are called to be the good men who work to ensure that right prevails and evil fails. I pray that we will rise to this task. In that spirit, I end by quoting Lehi: “Arise from the dust … and be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity” (2 Nephi 1:21).
Friday, January 26, 2007
The Invitation to Come unto Christ
I want to start by reading a part of a talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:
You will recall that when Andrew and another disciple, probably John, first heard Christ speak, they were so moved and attracted to Jesus that they followed Him as He left the crowd. Sensing that He was being pursued, Christ turned and asked the two men, “What seek ye?” [John 1:38.] … They answered, “Where dwellest thou?” or “Where do you live?” Christ said simply, “Come and see.” [John 1:39.] Just a short time later He formally called Peter and other new Apostles with the same spirit of invitation. To them He said, Come, “follow me.” [Matt. 4:19.]
It seems that the essence of our mortal journey and the answers to the most significant questions in life are distilled down to these two very brief elements in the opening scenes of the Savior’s earthly ministry. One element is the question put to every one of us on this earth: “What seek ye? What do you want?” The second is His response to our answer, whatever that answer is. Whoever we are and whatever we reply, His response is always the same: “Come,” He says lovingly. “Come, follow me.” Wherever you are going, first come and see what I do, see where and how I spend my time. Learn of me, walk with me, talk with me, believe. Listen to me pray. In turn you will find answers to your own prayers. God will bring rest to your souls. Come, follow me.
Today, I want to focus on some ways we can come unto Christ. But, first I want to answer the question of why we should come unto Christ?
The answer starts with our own testimony of His divine calling as Savior of the world. Ezra Taft Benson said: “Once one is convinced ... that Jesus is the Christ, then he must take the next step; he must come unto Christ.” Many of us have that testimony that He is our Savior and that He lives and loves us and watches over us. For those who don’t, I urge you to gain that testimony. Pray, and God will give the only answer there is for that question. He tell you by His Spirit that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world. Once converted, our duty is to align our lives with the teachings of Christ. In so doing, we turn over our lives to the one who gave His life for us. Said Elder Lowell D. Wood:
"To yield to Christ means to put him and his teachings first. The total submission of our will to his is one of the most difficult obstacles we face on our journey toward eternal life. The rewards of this submission are beautifully described by President Ezra Taft Benson: 'Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace.'"
President Benson tells us that we need to know that Christ has invited us all to come unto Him. Elder Wood said of the call to come unto Christ: “It should be understood this invitation is not a request to participate in a single event, but to participate in a process. This process leads individuals to eternal life, which “is the greatest of all the gifts of God; for there is no gift greater than the gift of salvation.” (D&C 6:13). As we come unto Christ, He leads us to our Ulimate Hope: Life in the eternities with Him and our Father in Heaven—and all the blessings associated with that wonderful gift, including to become joint-heirs with Christ, to have our mortal families here be made eternal and to have unending joy. All these are promised to us if we but come unto Him.
It was the Savior who said: “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me” (D&C 88:63). What a blessing it is to have the Savior near us. The Psalmist wrote, “It is good for me to draw near to God” (Psalms 73:28). Prior to that verse, David explains why it is good for Him to draw near to God:
“I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.
“Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
“Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
“My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever” (Psalms 73:23-26).
I believe whenever we draw unto Christ, we will find it rewarding. As we come unto Him, He will take us by the right hand and guide us with his counsel and strengthen our hearts—and all this will He do so that He may one day receive us into the Kingdom of the Father. If we arrive there, it will be because of the blood He spilt in the Garden and His life He gave on the cross. With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few of the ways we can come unto Him.
1. Strengthen yourself through scripture study, fasting and prayer.
When Vince Lombardi was hired to coach the Green Bay Packers, reporters asked him what he was going to do in his new role—would he emphasize the pass, the run, defense, what? Lombardi responded, “We’ll be brilliant at the basics.” Lombardi’s teams were, and they won so much, they named the Super Bowl trophy after him.
Similarly, in our spiritual doings, we need to be brilliant at the basics, so we are prepared for whatever Satan throws at us.
Because He was brilliant at the basics, Christ was strengthened to withstand Satan’s temptations. He was strengthened to withstand the through his forty days of fasting and prayer. He also drew upon the scriptures for strength.
As we fast and we pray, we also find additional strength. In Doctrine & Covenants 10:5, the Lord promises us: “Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conqueror Satan …” Certainly, that is our goal! How de we return to live our Heavenly Father? We conqueror Satan? What’s the best way to conqueror Satan? Pray Always. President Ezra Taft Benson has said, “Communicating with our Father in Heaven through prayer also brings a spiritual power and strength found in no other way.”
Next, in response to each of Satan’s temptations, Christ quotes a scripture. Of this, Elder Boyd K. Packer said, “Think on it carefully. When facing Perdition himself, the Lord drew upon scriptures for protection.”
For us, we too find added protection from studying the scriptures, but we also find a great example in the scriptures in the life of Jesus Christ.
In modern revelation, Christ has said: “Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me” (D&C 19:23).
As we learn about His life, our testimonies deepen as does our resolve to walk his paths, which brings us to point No. 2:
2. Walk in His footsteps
To Peter and his brother Andrew, the Savior said: “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19). During the Last Supper, Christ would repeat this command to Peter, saying, “Follow thou me” (John 21:22). This same invitation was also extended to Phillip (John 1:43). Also, during his ministry, He once said: “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34).
We use what we have learned of Him to follow Him. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said of the scriptures, “We possess these precious truths! Now they must come to possess us!” The scriptures teach us how to follow Him. They also teach us that great blessings come to us by following Him. Pay attention to the blessings in the following scriptures. First, He has told us: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28). Also,“If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour” (John 12:26). In speaking of inheriting eternal life, He said: “Wherefore, hear my voice and follow me, and you shall be a free people” (D&C 38:27).
Think of all those promises: The promise of eternal life, the promise that He will be with us, and the promise that one day He will give us that eternal freedom that only He can grant. What a great blessing it is to follow Him!
During His life,Christ focused on being an example to us. In blazing the trail back to the Father, He showed us how to walk it. An example of this comes from His baptism:
Christ was baptized to “fulfill all righteouness” (Matthew 3:15). He did so to fulfill the commandment He had received of the Father and to show us the way. In writing to encourage us to be baptized, Nephi writes, “Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do” (2 Nephi 31:17). That’s good advice not just for baptism—but in all aspects of life. By studying Him, we know what we should do. As we come to know Him, we will want to follow in His footsteps.
3. Let the Spirit Be Your Guide
The King James Version of the Bible tells us that the devil led Christ to the various places where Satan tempted Him. Fortunately, through the wonderful Joseph Smith Translation, we know that this is not the case. The JST tells us that Christ followed the Spirit. Christ never allowed Satan to lead Him. Instead, He listened to the Spirit.
Like Christ, each of us have two voices tugging at us: The voice of the Spirit and the voice of the Evil One. If we follow Satan, we know where that will lead. As President Howard W. Hunter said, “The surest way to lose the blessings of time or eternity is to accept them on Satan’s terms.” But if we follow the Spirit, we know where we will be led: Back to the Kingdom of our Father.
Let’s focus for a moment, though, on the fact that He let the Spirit lead Him. Each of us will face times when we can visit an unholy place. Did Christ ever allow Himself to stand in unholy places? In this dispensation, He has issued this command: “Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved” (D&C 87:8). If we stand in holy places, then it obviously becomes easier to live the gospel. The question, then, for each of us becomes this: Is there a place I go that offends the Spirit? If there is, then a change needs to be made—and a new destination needs to be found. There are plenty of holy places here where you can stand; there are plenty of good, fun friends you can hang out with.Your standards never need to be compromised.
Consider also, how Christ treated these temptations from Satan. He dismissed each temptation quickly. From this, we learn He controlled His thoughts. It has been said that thoughts become actions; actions become habits; habits become character. Christ was of a perfect character—perhaps because He controlled His thoughts. “For as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7) Satan had no control over Christ because Christ had complete control over His thoughts. Said Elder Wood: “Any thought, activity, or action that is compatible with the name, the life, or the teachings of Jesus Christ is acceptable. Any behavior that is not compatible with his name, his life, or his teachings is not acceptable and should be avoided.”
Our job in this day is to be close to Christ. Said Ezra Taft Benson: “We are meeting the adversary every day. The challenges of this era will rival any of the past, and these challenges will increase both spiritually and temporally.
“We must be close to Christ, we must daily take His name upon us, always remember Him, and keep His commandments.” Here, President Benson quotes the same requirements we take upon us when we take the sacrament. The blessing of which is that His spirit will always be with us. To face the challenges of our day, we need to be led by the Spirit.
In conclusion, I want to bear you my testimony that Christ stands with open arms to receive any who come unto Him. Nephi writes, “He inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him” (2 Nephi 26:33). And, a few chapters later, we read: “I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God, if they will repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long” (2 Nephi 28:32). I know Christ stands with outstretched arms always waiting to embrace us. I know He is aware of us, and He will do all He can to bring about our happiness. I pray that each of us will come unto Him and find joy in Him and that we all may feel often His love in our lives. I know my life has been blessed by having Him as a friend. How grateful I am for His sustaining love that lifts me up and gives me hope. How grateful I am for the sacrifice He made for me that I might live. How grateful I am for His mercy and His patience with me. And how grateful I am that He has blessed my life so richly. I know the joy of drawing unto Him, and I know the disappointment of moving away from Him. From this, I know I want to live my life near Him, and I want to live my eternities with Him. From my own experience, I can testify that I knowHe means it whenHe says: “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you.”
You will recall that when Andrew and another disciple, probably John, first heard Christ speak, they were so moved and attracted to Jesus that they followed Him as He left the crowd. Sensing that He was being pursued, Christ turned and asked the two men, “What seek ye?” [John 1:38.] … They answered, “Where dwellest thou?” or “Where do you live?” Christ said simply, “Come and see.” [John 1:39.] Just a short time later He formally called Peter and other new Apostles with the same spirit of invitation. To them He said, Come, “follow me.” [Matt. 4:19.]
It seems that the essence of our mortal journey and the answers to the most significant questions in life are distilled down to these two very brief elements in the opening scenes of the Savior’s earthly ministry. One element is the question put to every one of us on this earth: “What seek ye? What do you want?” The second is His response to our answer, whatever that answer is. Whoever we are and whatever we reply, His response is always the same: “Come,” He says lovingly. “Come, follow me.” Wherever you are going, first come and see what I do, see where and how I spend my time. Learn of me, walk with me, talk with me, believe. Listen to me pray. In turn you will find answers to your own prayers. God will bring rest to your souls. Come, follow me.
Today, I want to focus on some ways we can come unto Christ. But, first I want to answer the question of why we should come unto Christ?
The answer starts with our own testimony of His divine calling as Savior of the world. Ezra Taft Benson said: “Once one is convinced ... that Jesus is the Christ, then he must take the next step; he must come unto Christ.” Many of us have that testimony that He is our Savior and that He lives and loves us and watches over us. For those who don’t, I urge you to gain that testimony. Pray, and God will give the only answer there is for that question. He tell you by His Spirit that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world. Once converted, our duty is to align our lives with the teachings of Christ. In so doing, we turn over our lives to the one who gave His life for us. Said Elder Lowell D. Wood:
"To yield to Christ means to put him and his teachings first. The total submission of our will to his is one of the most difficult obstacles we face on our journey toward eternal life. The rewards of this submission are beautifully described by President Ezra Taft Benson: 'Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace.'"
President Benson tells us that we need to know that Christ has invited us all to come unto Him. Elder Wood said of the call to come unto Christ: “It should be understood this invitation is not a request to participate in a single event, but to participate in a process. This process leads individuals to eternal life, which “is the greatest of all the gifts of God; for there is no gift greater than the gift of salvation.” (D&C 6:13). As we come unto Christ, He leads us to our Ulimate Hope: Life in the eternities with Him and our Father in Heaven—and all the blessings associated with that wonderful gift, including to become joint-heirs with Christ, to have our mortal families here be made eternal and to have unending joy. All these are promised to us if we but come unto Him.
It was the Savior who said: “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me” (D&C 88:63). What a blessing it is to have the Savior near us. The Psalmist wrote, “It is good for me to draw near to God” (Psalms 73:28). Prior to that verse, David explains why it is good for Him to draw near to God:
“I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.
“Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
“Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
“My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever” (Psalms 73:23-26).
I believe whenever we draw unto Christ, we will find it rewarding. As we come unto Him, He will take us by the right hand and guide us with his counsel and strengthen our hearts—and all this will He do so that He may one day receive us into the Kingdom of the Father. If we arrive there, it will be because of the blood He spilt in the Garden and His life He gave on the cross. With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few of the ways we can come unto Him.
1. Strengthen yourself through scripture study, fasting and prayer.
When Vince Lombardi was hired to coach the Green Bay Packers, reporters asked him what he was going to do in his new role—would he emphasize the pass, the run, defense, what? Lombardi responded, “We’ll be brilliant at the basics.” Lombardi’s teams were, and they won so much, they named the Super Bowl trophy after him.
Similarly, in our spiritual doings, we need to be brilliant at the basics, so we are prepared for whatever Satan throws at us.
Because He was brilliant at the basics, Christ was strengthened to withstand Satan’s temptations. He was strengthened to withstand the through his forty days of fasting and prayer. He also drew upon the scriptures for strength.
As we fast and we pray, we also find additional strength. In Doctrine & Covenants 10:5, the Lord promises us: “Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conqueror Satan …” Certainly, that is our goal! How de we return to live our Heavenly Father? We conqueror Satan? What’s the best way to conqueror Satan? Pray Always. President Ezra Taft Benson has said, “Communicating with our Father in Heaven through prayer also brings a spiritual power and strength found in no other way.”
Next, in response to each of Satan’s temptations, Christ quotes a scripture. Of this, Elder Boyd K. Packer said, “Think on it carefully. When facing Perdition himself, the Lord drew upon scriptures for protection.”
For us, we too find added protection from studying the scriptures, but we also find a great example in the scriptures in the life of Jesus Christ.
In modern revelation, Christ has said: “Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me” (D&C 19:23).
As we learn about His life, our testimonies deepen as does our resolve to walk his paths, which brings us to point No. 2:
2. Walk in His footsteps
To Peter and his brother Andrew, the Savior said: “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19). During the Last Supper, Christ would repeat this command to Peter, saying, “Follow thou me” (John 21:22). This same invitation was also extended to Phillip (John 1:43). Also, during his ministry, He once said: “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34).
We use what we have learned of Him to follow Him. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said of the scriptures, “We possess these precious truths! Now they must come to possess us!” The scriptures teach us how to follow Him. They also teach us that great blessings come to us by following Him. Pay attention to the blessings in the following scriptures. First, He has told us: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28). Also,“If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour” (John 12:26). In speaking of inheriting eternal life, He said: “Wherefore, hear my voice and follow me, and you shall be a free people” (D&C 38:27).
Think of all those promises: The promise of eternal life, the promise that He will be with us, and the promise that one day He will give us that eternal freedom that only He can grant. What a great blessing it is to follow Him!
During His life,Christ focused on being an example to us. In blazing the trail back to the Father, He showed us how to walk it. An example of this comes from His baptism:
Christ was baptized to “fulfill all righteouness” (Matthew 3:15). He did so to fulfill the commandment He had received of the Father and to show us the way. In writing to encourage us to be baptized, Nephi writes, “Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do” (2 Nephi 31:17). That’s good advice not just for baptism—but in all aspects of life. By studying Him, we know what we should do. As we come to know Him, we will want to follow in His footsteps.
3. Let the Spirit Be Your Guide
The King James Version of the Bible tells us that the devil led Christ to the various places where Satan tempted Him. Fortunately, through the wonderful Joseph Smith Translation, we know that this is not the case. The JST tells us that Christ followed the Spirit. Christ never allowed Satan to lead Him. Instead, He listened to the Spirit.
Like Christ, each of us have two voices tugging at us: The voice of the Spirit and the voice of the Evil One. If we follow Satan, we know where that will lead. As President Howard W. Hunter said, “The surest way to lose the blessings of time or eternity is to accept them on Satan’s terms.” But if we follow the Spirit, we know where we will be led: Back to the Kingdom of our Father.
Let’s focus for a moment, though, on the fact that He let the Spirit lead Him. Each of us will face times when we can visit an unholy place. Did Christ ever allow Himself to stand in unholy places? In this dispensation, He has issued this command: “Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved” (D&C 87:8). If we stand in holy places, then it obviously becomes easier to live the gospel. The question, then, for each of us becomes this: Is there a place I go that offends the Spirit? If there is, then a change needs to be made—and a new destination needs to be found. There are plenty of holy places here where you can stand; there are plenty of good, fun friends you can hang out with.Your standards never need to be compromised.
Consider also, how Christ treated these temptations from Satan. He dismissed each temptation quickly. From this, we learn He controlled His thoughts. It has been said that thoughts become actions; actions become habits; habits become character. Christ was of a perfect character—perhaps because He controlled His thoughts. “For as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7) Satan had no control over Christ because Christ had complete control over His thoughts. Said Elder Wood: “Any thought, activity, or action that is compatible with the name, the life, or the teachings of Jesus Christ is acceptable. Any behavior that is not compatible with his name, his life, or his teachings is not acceptable and should be avoided.”
Our job in this day is to be close to Christ. Said Ezra Taft Benson: “We are meeting the adversary every day. The challenges of this era will rival any of the past, and these challenges will increase both spiritually and temporally.
“We must be close to Christ, we must daily take His name upon us, always remember Him, and keep His commandments.” Here, President Benson quotes the same requirements we take upon us when we take the sacrament. The blessing of which is that His spirit will always be with us. To face the challenges of our day, we need to be led by the Spirit.
In conclusion, I want to bear you my testimony that Christ stands with open arms to receive any who come unto Him. Nephi writes, “He inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him” (2 Nephi 26:33). And, a few chapters later, we read: “I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God, if they will repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long” (2 Nephi 28:32). I know Christ stands with outstretched arms always waiting to embrace us. I know He is aware of us, and He will do all He can to bring about our happiness. I pray that each of us will come unto Him and find joy in Him and that we all may feel often His love in our lives. I know my life has been blessed by having Him as a friend. How grateful I am for His sustaining love that lifts me up and gives me hope. How grateful I am for the sacrifice He made for me that I might live. How grateful I am for His mercy and His patience with me. And how grateful I am that He has blessed my life so richly. I know the joy of drawing unto Him, and I know the disappointment of moving away from Him. From this, I know I want to live my life near Him, and I want to live my eternities with Him. From my own experience, I can testify that I knowHe means it whenHe says: “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you.”
The Proof is in the Fruit
I’ve been thinking all week what I wanted to say here. And all week, one phrase from this week’s lesson keeps coming to my mind, and it comes from Malachi chapter 3: “And prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts” (v. 10). I find that phrase fascinating. I find it interesting that the Lord would ask us to prove Him. I want to focus my comments here today on that phrase: “And prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts” (Malachi 3:10).
Most of you recognize that this comes from a verse about tithing—and the Lord’s challenge concludes with the promise that He will “open … the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10).
Mary Fielding Smith, the wife of Hyrum and the mother of President Joseph F. Smith, understood this principle. Of her, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said: “After she lost her husband in the martyrdom at Nauvoo and made her way west with five fatherless children, Mary Fielding Smith continued in her poverty to pay tithing. When someone at the tithing office inappropriately suggested one day that she should not contribute a tenth of the only potatoes she had been able to raise that year, she cried out to the man, “William, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Would you deny me a blessing? If I did not pay my tithing, I should expect the Lord to withhold His blessings from me. I pay my tithing, not only because it is a law of God, but because I expect a blessing by doing it. [I need a blessing.] By keeping this and other laws, I expect to … be able to provide for my family.” Said Russell M. Nelson: “[God] tithes His people to bless them.” And said President James E. Faust: “Members of the Church who do not tithe do not lose their membership; they only lose blessings.”
But this particular challenge—to ask us to prove Him—applies to more than just the principle of tithing, for we know that, “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated— And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (D&C 130:20-21). Thus, each commandment has an accompanying blessing; and as we live those commandments, God will bless us accordingly. In so doing, He proves that His commandments are for our blessing and benefit.
I do not think it is coincidental that the same chapter in which our God asks him to prove us, ends with this verse:
“Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not” (Malachi 3:18).
The Lord here tells us that we will be able to see a distinctive difference between those that serve God and keeps his commandments—and the lives of those who do not. The Savior described this concept more succinctly when he said: “Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). Herein lies the proof—the proof of God’s love and His willingness to bless us. I personally have seen a common thread in the lives of those people whom I admire most—and that common thread is a love of the gospel and a desire to walk in God’s path. I can see in their lives, the fruit that has sprung from their seed of faith. I can see how in serving Christ, they have become Christlike. I have also seen personally in my life that all good things I have in my life come from trying to live the gospel—With God’s help, my talents have been amplified, my relationships made sweeter, and my life’s path has been made more enjoyable. I don’t know where I would be without the Church—but I know I wouldn’t be happy without it.
The Savior once said, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17). It is through the living of the gospel, that such a man will find his life enriched, his ability to love increased, his happiness multiplied and the promised blessings from a loving Father realized.
We are the product of our decisions. Once again, it was the Savior who said: “Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). Simply put: make better decisions, be a better person. If you want to be the best person you can be, make the best decision you can make: Live the commandments. If you live the commandments, God will mold you into the kind of person you need to be. My favorite quote at the moment comes from President Ezra Taft Benson, who said: “Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can.”
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said, “To open the windows of heaven, we must conform our will to God’s will. Diligent, enduring obedience to God’s laws is the key that opens the windows of heaven. Obedience enables us to be receptive to the mind and will of the Lord. ‘The Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient’ (D&C 64:34) are those who receive the blessings of revelation through the open windows of heaven.”
The prophet Azariah once received this admonishment from the Spirit: "Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded" (2 Chronicles 15:7). King Benjamin said, “He doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you” (Mosiah 2:24). For each commandment lived, a blessing is rendered.
In reflecting on this principle this week, my thoughts turned to my family. I have been blessed to live in a family that is really close. I feel a real kinship to my brother and my sisters, and a great love for my nieces and nephews. I have a hard time imagining a family closer than mine. And it is all because of the way my parents raised us.
The results of their endeavors were evident last week when my family gathered together for Christmas, and that meant our house was full of people, mostly little kids, running around and having a great time, enjoying the company of their cousins. Every nook in our house seemed to have a kid in it. There wasn’t much quiet in our home over the Holidays, but there was a lot of love. I always love it when my siblings visit; they are the best friends I have. And the nieces and nephews are a lot of fun, and they all get along so well, and they are always excited to see each other. We had a family talent show on Saturday night, and then the kids acted out the Nativity on Christmas Eve. In each of these experiences, the love we all have for each other and the joy we receive from interacting with one another were evident.
What makes this so remarkable is that neither one of my parents came from a home with a strong familial bond. As I reflect on that feeling that exists in my home, I must ask myself: “How could two people who came from cold homes create a home so embedded with warmth and love?” The answer is this: When they were newly married, my parents heard a prophet speak, and he asked families to do three things: family prayer, family scripture study and family home evening. My parents decided they would follow the prophet. These are simple things, really, but “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass” (Alma 37:6). The prayers, the scriptures and the home evenings brought into our home, the Spirit. And the Spirit knit our hearts together. There was love in our home this past week because the Spirit was there. My parents were able to build a great family because they didn’t rely on their themselves; they relied on God.
They allowed Heavenly Father into their home; they taught their children gospel principles that they themselves lived; and they followed God’s prophets. In essence, they turned their lives and, more specifically, their family over to God, and he blessed their family with the love and closeness that was so foreign to my parents growing up, but now was so real in the family they raised. In turning over their family to God, they found He could do more with them than they could. In short, God proved himself to my parents. He had issued a command through his prophet; they obeyed; He blessed them. I believe that they would tell that the closeness of their children and the joy they receive from their family exceeds what they expected when they first became parents. Because unto them, the Lord opened the windows of heaven and showed them how aware He is of them. I saw a sign in a store recently that said, “All this because two people fell in love.” I think that fits my family, if you add one line: “All this because two people fell in love and followed the Lord.”
It is through our living the gospel, that God proves His dependability to us. I believe this trait, His dependability, is one of His greatest traits. He will never let us down.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell said: “Though His creations are so vast as to be numberless even to computerized man, has Jesus not told us that the very hairs of our head are numbered? (See Matt. 10:30; Moses 1:35–38.)
“Did not the resurrected Jesus stand by an imprisoned Paul, telling him to be of good cheer and calling him on his mission to Rome? (See Acts 23:11.) Likewise, Jesus stands by the righteous in all their individual ordeals.
“Did not this good and true Shepherd forego repose after the glorious but awful Atonement in order to establish His work among the lost sheep, disobedient in the days of Noah? (See 1 Pet. 3:18–20.) Did He not then visit still other lost sheep in the Americas? (See John 10:16; 3 Ne. 15:17, 21.) Then still other lost sheep? (See 3 Ne. 16:1–3.) What can we tell Him about conscientiousness? Indeed, we cannot teach Him anything! But we can listen to Him. We can love Him, we can honor Him, we can worship Him! We can keep His commandments, and we can feast upon His scriptures! Yes, we who are so forgetful and even rebellious are never forgotten by Him! We are His “work” and His “glory,” and He is never distracted! (See Moses 1:39.)”
Think about that for a moment. He is never distracted from us—He is always aware of us. As I review my life and my past experiences, I must conclude that this is true. I can say, as it does in the hymn that I “doubt not the Lord nor his goodness.”
I’ve “proved him in days that are past” (“We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet”). Indeed, His love for us has been proven—it was proven in the Garden and on the Cross, when, in the Meridian of time, He took upon Himself all the pains, all the afflictions, and, most importantly, all the sins of mankind. It was there that He proved his love by descending below them all and then giving His life so that we might live in the Kingdom of His Father. He alone blazed the trail back home, which He walked alone so that we might know the way.
Neal A. Maxwell said: “His clearly defined footprints are easy to see. They are pressed distinctly and deeply into the soil of the second estate, deeply and distinctly because of the enormous weight which pressed down upon Him, including the awful burden of all of our individual sins. Only He could have carried it all. I thank the Savior personally for bearing all which I added to his hemorrhaging at every pore for all of humanity in Gethsemane. I thank Him for bearing what I added to the decibels of His piercing soul-cry atop Calvary.”
I too would like to add my gratitude for what Christ bore for me that I would have a chance. I can never repay Him. But I can give Him what little I have—my choices. He gave His life for me; I want to turn my life over to Him. After all, He has been proven; it is me who has not. For that is why all of us are here, or, in the words of Christ:
“And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;
“And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever” (Abraham 3:25-26).
We do not need to prove Him; we need to prove ourselves. And we do that by simply following Him, for which, we will blessed and, hopefully, one day, crowned in glory and exalted because we followed the One who gave His life for us.
Most of you recognize that this comes from a verse about tithing—and the Lord’s challenge concludes with the promise that He will “open … the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10).
Mary Fielding Smith, the wife of Hyrum and the mother of President Joseph F. Smith, understood this principle. Of her, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said: “After she lost her husband in the martyrdom at Nauvoo and made her way west with five fatherless children, Mary Fielding Smith continued in her poverty to pay tithing. When someone at the tithing office inappropriately suggested one day that she should not contribute a tenth of the only potatoes she had been able to raise that year, she cried out to the man, “William, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Would you deny me a blessing? If I did not pay my tithing, I should expect the Lord to withhold His blessings from me. I pay my tithing, not only because it is a law of God, but because I expect a blessing by doing it. [I need a blessing.] By keeping this and other laws, I expect to … be able to provide for my family.” Said Russell M. Nelson: “[God] tithes His people to bless them.” And said President James E. Faust: “Members of the Church who do not tithe do not lose their membership; they only lose blessings.”
But this particular challenge—to ask us to prove Him—applies to more than just the principle of tithing, for we know that, “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated— And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (D&C 130:20-21). Thus, each commandment has an accompanying blessing; and as we live those commandments, God will bless us accordingly. In so doing, He proves that His commandments are for our blessing and benefit.
I do not think it is coincidental that the same chapter in which our God asks him to prove us, ends with this verse:
“Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not” (Malachi 3:18).
The Lord here tells us that we will be able to see a distinctive difference between those that serve God and keeps his commandments—and the lives of those who do not. The Savior described this concept more succinctly when he said: “Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). Herein lies the proof—the proof of God’s love and His willingness to bless us. I personally have seen a common thread in the lives of those people whom I admire most—and that common thread is a love of the gospel and a desire to walk in God’s path. I can see in their lives, the fruit that has sprung from their seed of faith. I can see how in serving Christ, they have become Christlike. I have also seen personally in my life that all good things I have in my life come from trying to live the gospel—With God’s help, my talents have been amplified, my relationships made sweeter, and my life’s path has been made more enjoyable. I don’t know where I would be without the Church—but I know I wouldn’t be happy without it.
The Savior once said, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17). It is through the living of the gospel, that such a man will find his life enriched, his ability to love increased, his happiness multiplied and the promised blessings from a loving Father realized.
We are the product of our decisions. Once again, it was the Savior who said: “Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). Simply put: make better decisions, be a better person. If you want to be the best person you can be, make the best decision you can make: Live the commandments. If you live the commandments, God will mold you into the kind of person you need to be. My favorite quote at the moment comes from President Ezra Taft Benson, who said: “Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can.”
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said, “To open the windows of heaven, we must conform our will to God’s will. Diligent, enduring obedience to God’s laws is the key that opens the windows of heaven. Obedience enables us to be receptive to the mind and will of the Lord. ‘The Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient’ (D&C 64:34) are those who receive the blessings of revelation through the open windows of heaven.”
The prophet Azariah once received this admonishment from the Spirit: "Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded" (2 Chronicles 15:7). King Benjamin said, “He doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you” (Mosiah 2:24). For each commandment lived, a blessing is rendered.
In reflecting on this principle this week, my thoughts turned to my family. I have been blessed to live in a family that is really close. I feel a real kinship to my brother and my sisters, and a great love for my nieces and nephews. I have a hard time imagining a family closer than mine. And it is all because of the way my parents raised us.
The results of their endeavors were evident last week when my family gathered together for Christmas, and that meant our house was full of people, mostly little kids, running around and having a great time, enjoying the company of their cousins. Every nook in our house seemed to have a kid in it. There wasn’t much quiet in our home over the Holidays, but there was a lot of love. I always love it when my siblings visit; they are the best friends I have. And the nieces and nephews are a lot of fun, and they all get along so well, and they are always excited to see each other. We had a family talent show on Saturday night, and then the kids acted out the Nativity on Christmas Eve. In each of these experiences, the love we all have for each other and the joy we receive from interacting with one another were evident.
What makes this so remarkable is that neither one of my parents came from a home with a strong familial bond. As I reflect on that feeling that exists in my home, I must ask myself: “How could two people who came from cold homes create a home so embedded with warmth and love?” The answer is this: When they were newly married, my parents heard a prophet speak, and he asked families to do three things: family prayer, family scripture study and family home evening. My parents decided they would follow the prophet. These are simple things, really, but “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass” (Alma 37:6). The prayers, the scriptures and the home evenings brought into our home, the Spirit. And the Spirit knit our hearts together. There was love in our home this past week because the Spirit was there. My parents were able to build a great family because they didn’t rely on their themselves; they relied on God.
They allowed Heavenly Father into their home; they taught their children gospel principles that they themselves lived; and they followed God’s prophets. In essence, they turned their lives and, more specifically, their family over to God, and he blessed their family with the love and closeness that was so foreign to my parents growing up, but now was so real in the family they raised. In turning over their family to God, they found He could do more with them than they could. In short, God proved himself to my parents. He had issued a command through his prophet; they obeyed; He blessed them. I believe that they would tell that the closeness of their children and the joy they receive from their family exceeds what they expected when they first became parents. Because unto them, the Lord opened the windows of heaven and showed them how aware He is of them. I saw a sign in a store recently that said, “All this because two people fell in love.” I think that fits my family, if you add one line: “All this because two people fell in love and followed the Lord.”
It is through our living the gospel, that God proves His dependability to us. I believe this trait, His dependability, is one of His greatest traits. He will never let us down.
Elder Neal A. Maxwell said: “Though His creations are so vast as to be numberless even to computerized man, has Jesus not told us that the very hairs of our head are numbered? (See Matt. 10:30; Moses 1:35–38.)
“Did not the resurrected Jesus stand by an imprisoned Paul, telling him to be of good cheer and calling him on his mission to Rome? (See Acts 23:11.) Likewise, Jesus stands by the righteous in all their individual ordeals.
“Did not this good and true Shepherd forego repose after the glorious but awful Atonement in order to establish His work among the lost sheep, disobedient in the days of Noah? (See 1 Pet. 3:18–20.) Did He not then visit still other lost sheep in the Americas? (See John 10:16; 3 Ne. 15:17, 21.) Then still other lost sheep? (See 3 Ne. 16:1–3.) What can we tell Him about conscientiousness? Indeed, we cannot teach Him anything! But we can listen to Him. We can love Him, we can honor Him, we can worship Him! We can keep His commandments, and we can feast upon His scriptures! Yes, we who are so forgetful and even rebellious are never forgotten by Him! We are His “work” and His “glory,” and He is never distracted! (See Moses 1:39.)”
Think about that for a moment. He is never distracted from us—He is always aware of us. As I review my life and my past experiences, I must conclude that this is true. I can say, as it does in the hymn that I “doubt not the Lord nor his goodness.”
I’ve “proved him in days that are past” (“We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet”). Indeed, His love for us has been proven—it was proven in the Garden and on the Cross, when, in the Meridian of time, He took upon Himself all the pains, all the afflictions, and, most importantly, all the sins of mankind. It was there that He proved his love by descending below them all and then giving His life so that we might live in the Kingdom of His Father. He alone blazed the trail back home, which He walked alone so that we might know the way.
Neal A. Maxwell said: “His clearly defined footprints are easy to see. They are pressed distinctly and deeply into the soil of the second estate, deeply and distinctly because of the enormous weight which pressed down upon Him, including the awful burden of all of our individual sins. Only He could have carried it all. I thank the Savior personally for bearing all which I added to his hemorrhaging at every pore for all of humanity in Gethsemane. I thank Him for bearing what I added to the decibels of His piercing soul-cry atop Calvary.”
I too would like to add my gratitude for what Christ bore for me that I would have a chance. I can never repay Him. But I can give Him what little I have—my choices. He gave His life for me; I want to turn my life over to Him. After all, He has been proven; it is me who has not. For that is why all of us are here, or, in the words of Christ:
“And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;
“And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever” (Abraham 3:25-26).
We do not need to prove Him; we need to prove ourselves. And we do that by simply following Him, for which, we will blessed and, hopefully, one day, crowned in glory and exalted because we followed the One who gave His life for us.
Jesus' mortal example of manhood
Sometimes, when reading the scriptures, one of the best things we can do is to tap on the brakes and consider things from the point of view of the people in the scriptures. Let’s do that with two verses in the first chapter of Matthew, verses 18 and 19:
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
“Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.”
For the next few minutes, I want you to consider this situation from Joseph’s point of view. First, Joseph is in love—and not just with any girl. He was in love with a girl of surpassing beauty, probably the prettiest girl in all of Nazareth. Nephi writes of Mary that “she was exceedingly fair and white” (1 Nephi 11:13) and that she was “most beautiful and fair above all other virgins” (1 Nephi 11:15). (Just a sidenote: I’ve always wonder how Nephi’s wife feels about him writing all this.) Mary was a high-quality person and is rightfully viewed as the paragon of womanhood. Alma tells us that she was “a precious and chosen vessel” (Alma 7:10). Of her, Bruce R. McConkie wrote, “As there is only one Christ, so there is only one Mary. And as the Father chose the most noble and righteous of all his spirit sons to come into mortality as his Only Begotten in the flesh, so we may confidently conclude that he selected the most worthy and spiritually talented of all his spirit daughters to be the mortal mother of his Eternal Son.” This wonderful, beautiful woman belonged to Joseph. He loved her. Little is known about Joseph and his circumstances. I can only imagine that many days, as the mounds of sawdust piled up at his feet from his latest carpentry project, his thoughts must have turned to Mary.
He probably spent considerable time daydreaming what life would be like with his new bride. Life for a peasant carpenter in ancient Israel likely had its struggles, but Mary would better his life considerably. Can you just imagine how excited and how thrilled he must have been to have all this happening? The love of his life, his dreamgirl, loved him. All he had worked for—all he hoped for—was going to be. Can you imagine his joy? During the time of their engagement, Mary left for three months to visit her cousin, Elisabeth, so you can imagine how excited he must have been when she returned.
And you can imagine how dismayed he must have been when she returned noticeably pregnant. What must Joseph have thought? Of this, Elder James E. Talmage wrote, “When Joseph greeted his promised bride after her three months' absence, he was greatly distressed over the indications of her prospective maternity.” One LDS scholar writes: “If ever a man had the right to come to an erroneous conclusion, it was Joseph. After all, there was only one possible explanation for the condition in which he found his espoused.” Now, think about this, put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. Your espoused wife is pregnant, and you know the child can’t be yours. How would you feel? Can’t you see him going from true love to complete heartbreak. Can’t you just see his dreams dissolving? Can’t you just feel his heart breaking? Can’t you just imagine how he must have felt like the world had just collapsed on him and smothered his sunshine? Really, how would you feel, if you were Joseph? Wouldn’t you have felt betrayed? Wouldn’t you have felt like your happiness had been stolen from you? Can you imagine the hurt he must felt? Wouldn’t you be upset? Wouldn’t you be bitter?
It is not known how long it was between the time Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant and the time the angel appeared to Joseph. But we do know, that in between, “he thought on these things” (Matthew 1:20). I would guess that those were some tormented nights. I’ll bet Joseph cried himself to sleep. I would have.
It would have been easy for Joseph to give into the feelings of resentment and bitterness and let those feelings fester into outright hatred for Mary. It would have been easy, but it wouldn’t have been right. Joseph had loved her—he had genuinely loved her. And he still did. He had some options because he was espoused to her. What is espousal? Elder Bruce R. McConkie explains it this way: “According to Jewish law, marriage took place in two steps, first came the espousal or betrothal, later the formal marriage ceremony. Both formalities preceded assumption of the full privileges and responsibilities of the marital state. In a sense, espoused persons were viewed as already married, so that the angel in counseling Joseph to fulfill his marriage plans properly referred to Mary as his ‘wife.’ (v. 20) Espoused persons were considered bound to each other so that their betrothal could only be broken by a formal action akin to divorce. This is what Joseph had contemplated prior to receiving direction from the angelic visitant.” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 1:83).
Another LDS Scholar gives us this explanation: “[An espousal was] a formal contract of marriage. The contract was not completed in full until the performance of a second ceremony. At that time they could then begin living together as husband and wife. She was considered by law to be the wife of Joseph. The contract could only be broken by a formal ‘bill of divorcement.’ Any infidelity on the part of one espoused would be classed as adultery and subject to death under the laws of Moses” (Bill Beardall). So he had that option. Death was the fiercest punishment but the more probable option appears to have been to “made the divorcement public knowledge, and Mary would have been subject to great gossip” (Bill Beardall).
But he couldn’t do that to her. He still loved her, and he still wanted to treat her with respect, so he decides he will end his relationship with her in the most dignified manner possible. “Joseph's plan was to put Mary away privately. To give her a letter of divorcement in the presence of two witnesses … as allowed by the law” (Bill Beardall). Of Joseph’s decision, James E. Talmage writes, “Now the Jewish law provided for the annulment of a betrothal in either of two ways—by public trial and judgment, or by private agreement attested by a written document signed in the presence of witnesses. Joseph was a just man, a strict observer of the law, yet no harsh extremist; moreover he loved Mary and would save her all unnecessary humiliation, whatever might be his own sorrow and suffering. For Mary's sake he dreaded the thought of publicity; and therefore determined to have the espousal annulled with such privacy as the law allowed.” One LDS scholar says, “His love for Mary was greater than his own pride.” That’s true. But more than that, his love for was greater than his own hurt.
He put her well-being ahead of his own pain; he wanted to make the breakup as dignified as he could to help her save face. It’s human nature when someone hurts us, to try and hurt them back. But Joseph yielded not to that natural man temptation. He could have subjected her to name calling and public taunts. He could have irreparably injured her reputation. But he knew she didn’t deserve that; no woman does, no matter what she’s done. Rather, he decided to treat her with honor. Matthew calls Joseph a “just man”—in considering, his decision at this bleakest moment of his life, don’t you agree that he was, indeed, a “just man?”
So he makes this decision to put her dignity and her honor and her good name ahead of his own pride and his hurt. Then, the angel appears. Can you imagine how thrilled he must have been when the angel appeared—and her story checked out? Can you imagine Mary’s thrill—for she likely had spent considerable time fretting over “What will Joseph think?” This was a real test for both of them. But Joseph came through—and, as his reward, Heavenly Father gave him one of his best. Mary’s child was the Christ child. Mary’s Son was God’s Only Begotten Son. Thirty-three years later, in a Garden and on the Cross, He paid the terrible price of the Atonement. He gave His life for all mankind, including Mary and Joseph. Through the sacrifice of Mary’s Son, Joseph’s proven love for Mary was made eternal. As for them, so it is for all of us. For, by Christ’s redemption are families made eternal. Think about that: Christ’s infinite love for us makes our love for each other eternal!
I really marvel at the love and honor Joseph displayed for Mary. Where lesser men would have cruelly ridiculed Mary, he treated her with all love he could summon. In consideration of his story and his circumstances, one must conclude that his humble carpenter was truly a great man of God. Of him, it has been said, “He must have been much like the Lord himself, for he was Jesus' earthly example of manhood” (Beardall). Of Joseph’s decision to honor—not hurt—Mary, one LDS scholar writes: “He seems to have known Mary well enough and loved enough not to act precipitously.” And then this scholar adds an important question in which lies a great lesson we can take from
Joseph’s story. The scholar writes, “Please note ... what Joseph did before he acted in this matter. ‘He thought on these things.’ Have you ever been injured or injured others because you acted too quickly?”
What if Joseph had acted rashly? He was in a position where he could have really hurt Mary. Again, a lesser man would have. But what if he had charged in, made charges, called her names and had her publicly humiliated? Would Mary have ever recovered? Would he really have been better off? While it’s true that the Jewish law permitted such behavior, the laws of God do not ever give anyone any cause to ridicule someone in such a manner—in particular, God asks his priesthood bearers to treat women with the utmost respect. Here, was Joseph—Jesus’ example of manhood—and he treated Mary with honor. That’s what a man does.
Said Elder D. Todd Christofferson, “In large measure, true manhood is defined in our relationship to women.” God’s definition of manhood is how well a man treats God’s daughters. Said President Thomas S. Monson: “Men, take care not to make women weep, for God counts their tears.”
Joseph’s example serves an important lesson—for both guys and girls—on how they should treat each other in a dating relationship. These relationships are emotionally-charged. As such, when in a romantic relationship, we have the potential each do great harm to the person who we are dating, but we also have the possibility of treating them in such a way that it builds them up. True disciples of Christ seek to build everyone around them. Conversely, those who are not his disciples behave in ways that injure others.
You and I have both seen disastrous dating relationships. You and I have both seen friends suffer serious emotional pain because the person they were dating acted selfishly or maliciously towards them—and caused them undue hurt. You probably have, like I have, seen a friend cry because your friend’s “significant other” made a cruel comment, or this “significant other” did something that made your friend feel devalued, humiliated and unloved. In such situations, you see how downright devastating such comments and actions can be—and you always wish your friend was with someone who treated him or her better. You can’t control your friends. You certainly can’t control those whom they choose to date. But you can control yourself. For those of us, who seek to be disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, we must never allow ourselves to be that kind of person who inflicts such harm on those we date. We must be different! We must be thoughtful—and give careful consideration to how our words and actions will affect our partner’s self-worth. We must always treat them like we want them to treat us.
You and I have also seen relationships done right—we have seen our friends grow and increase in self-confidence because of the way the person they were dating treated them. Every relationship is going to have its struggles.
Even Zack Morris and Kelly Kapowski had their ups-and-downs. The important thing is that we, like Joseph, treat those we date with respect—no matter what. Our actions toward those we date should be such that we do not become an obstacle between them and the temple. We should ensure that we don’t become an impediment to their true happiness. Even when the relationship sours, we we want them to be better off for having dated us.
There’s two simple ways to make sure this happens: First, live the standards you have been taught and, second, live by the Golden Rule. If the relationship should falter, another consideration should be given to how you handle the break-up. My advice is “Don’t Burn a Bridge.” The person you’ve been dating has genuinely cared for you; and now they’re just going to care for you in a different way. I know that’s not true in all cases, but it is true in most. I have found that some of the best friends and the best advisors I’ve had in life are girls I’ve dated. They’ve hung out with me, and they know me. They’ve become a valuable resource as time has gone on, and I really treasure their friendship. So I would advise you to do everything you can to salvage that friendship. That’s not always possible, and, in some cases, it might be wise to not go forward as friends, but if you can remain friends, it’s really to your benefit.
Finally, I want to spend a few minutes talking about heartbreak and how to deal with it, as I think it is one of the toughest things people our age go through. My worst experience in this category came about five or six years ago. Soon after my mission, I began dating a girl who I just loved. And we dated about a year. In every way, she was my dream: she was smart, she was funny, she was a great person, and she was really pretty—none of my friends could believe she was with me. And I couldn’t believe it either. We had some really serious talks about getting married—and I definitely wanted to. But, then one night, she told she had to talk with me. She told me she had been reading her scriptures when she got her answer—and it was that I was not the one for her.
That was not a fun experience. When I said earlier that I would have cried myself to sleep if I was in Joseph’s position, it’s because when I did find myself in a similar position to Joseph’s, I did cry myself to sleep. Many times. But I am so grateful that I went through that experience because I learned so much from that time. First of all, I know that as much as heartbreak hurts, it really is for our good. As Lehi told Jacob: “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things” (2 Nephi 2:11). The heartbreak we suffer in dating will make us appreciate the love we find in marriage even more. I really think it’s a good thing to have your heart broken at least once in your life. Because I know what it’s like to have my heart really broken, I know that when eternal love comes my way, I will treat my wife better than I would have otherwise.
Because I know what it means to have loved-and-lost, I will treasure an everlasting love even more. Having experienced the bitter, I will better appreciate the sweet (D&C 29:39).
The other thing I learned in this period of my life was just how much I can depend on my Savior. I want to read from Psalms 147:3: “[Christ] healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” I testify that Christ can heal the broken-hearted. I know that in my darkest hours He has been there for me; and I know that in your darkest hours, He will be there for you. I testify that “He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3)—which sorrows and grief he freely welcomed and experienced so that He can help us in our times of trouble. Of this, the great prophet Alma prophesied: “[Christ] will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities” (Alma 7:12). Whatever trial, disappointment or sorrow we may experience, Christ has experienced Himself. Thus, He knows better than anyone else what you are going through and how to get through it. The wisest thing you can do in a time of trouble or any other time is to come unto Christ and put your trust in Him.
I really love Joseph’s story. I think he stands as an example of what a true man is and how we should conduct ourselves, even through the difficult hours of heartbreak. In the early part of Jesus’ ministry, he preached in Nazareth. They rejected him, saying foolishly, “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” (Matt 13:5). This nearsighted response is foolish on two counts: (1) Jesus wasn’t Joseph’s son; He was the son of God, and (2) Joseph was more than just a carpenter—he was one of the greatest men who lived. A man from whose example we can learn much. By taking this time to examine two short verses about him in the Book of Matthew, we have learned how a man of Christ treats the woman he loves, and we’ve learned why it’s important that, when making important decisions, we don’t act rashly, but take the time to think, ponder and pray before we make a weighty decision.
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
“Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.”
For the next few minutes, I want you to consider this situation from Joseph’s point of view. First, Joseph is in love—and not just with any girl. He was in love with a girl of surpassing beauty, probably the prettiest girl in all of Nazareth. Nephi writes of Mary that “she was exceedingly fair and white” (1 Nephi 11:13) and that she was “most beautiful and fair above all other virgins” (1 Nephi 11:15). (Just a sidenote: I’ve always wonder how Nephi’s wife feels about him writing all this.) Mary was a high-quality person and is rightfully viewed as the paragon of womanhood. Alma tells us that she was “a precious and chosen vessel” (Alma 7:10). Of her, Bruce R. McConkie wrote, “As there is only one Christ, so there is only one Mary. And as the Father chose the most noble and righteous of all his spirit sons to come into mortality as his Only Begotten in the flesh, so we may confidently conclude that he selected the most worthy and spiritually talented of all his spirit daughters to be the mortal mother of his Eternal Son.” This wonderful, beautiful woman belonged to Joseph. He loved her. Little is known about Joseph and his circumstances. I can only imagine that many days, as the mounds of sawdust piled up at his feet from his latest carpentry project, his thoughts must have turned to Mary.
He probably spent considerable time daydreaming what life would be like with his new bride. Life for a peasant carpenter in ancient Israel likely had its struggles, but Mary would better his life considerably. Can you just imagine how excited and how thrilled he must have been to have all this happening? The love of his life, his dreamgirl, loved him. All he had worked for—all he hoped for—was going to be. Can you imagine his joy? During the time of their engagement, Mary left for three months to visit her cousin, Elisabeth, so you can imagine how excited he must have been when she returned.
And you can imagine how dismayed he must have been when she returned noticeably pregnant. What must Joseph have thought? Of this, Elder James E. Talmage wrote, “When Joseph greeted his promised bride after her three months' absence, he was greatly distressed over the indications of her prospective maternity.” One LDS scholar writes: “If ever a man had the right to come to an erroneous conclusion, it was Joseph. After all, there was only one possible explanation for the condition in which he found his espoused.” Now, think about this, put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. Your espoused wife is pregnant, and you know the child can’t be yours. How would you feel? Can’t you see him going from true love to complete heartbreak. Can’t you just see his dreams dissolving? Can’t you just feel his heart breaking? Can’t you just imagine how he must have felt like the world had just collapsed on him and smothered his sunshine? Really, how would you feel, if you were Joseph? Wouldn’t you have felt betrayed? Wouldn’t you have felt like your happiness had been stolen from you? Can you imagine the hurt he must felt? Wouldn’t you be upset? Wouldn’t you be bitter?
It is not known how long it was between the time Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant and the time the angel appeared to Joseph. But we do know, that in between, “he thought on these things” (Matthew 1:20). I would guess that those were some tormented nights. I’ll bet Joseph cried himself to sleep. I would have.
It would have been easy for Joseph to give into the feelings of resentment and bitterness and let those feelings fester into outright hatred for Mary. It would have been easy, but it wouldn’t have been right. Joseph had loved her—he had genuinely loved her. And he still did. He had some options because he was espoused to her. What is espousal? Elder Bruce R. McConkie explains it this way: “According to Jewish law, marriage took place in two steps, first came the espousal or betrothal, later the formal marriage ceremony. Both formalities preceded assumption of the full privileges and responsibilities of the marital state. In a sense, espoused persons were viewed as already married, so that the angel in counseling Joseph to fulfill his marriage plans properly referred to Mary as his ‘wife.’ (v. 20) Espoused persons were considered bound to each other so that their betrothal could only be broken by a formal action akin to divorce. This is what Joseph had contemplated prior to receiving direction from the angelic visitant.” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 1:83).
Another LDS Scholar gives us this explanation: “[An espousal was] a formal contract of marriage. The contract was not completed in full until the performance of a second ceremony. At that time they could then begin living together as husband and wife. She was considered by law to be the wife of Joseph. The contract could only be broken by a formal ‘bill of divorcement.’ Any infidelity on the part of one espoused would be classed as adultery and subject to death under the laws of Moses” (Bill Beardall). So he had that option. Death was the fiercest punishment but the more probable option appears to have been to “made the divorcement public knowledge, and Mary would have been subject to great gossip” (Bill Beardall).
But he couldn’t do that to her. He still loved her, and he still wanted to treat her with respect, so he decides he will end his relationship with her in the most dignified manner possible. “Joseph's plan was to put Mary away privately. To give her a letter of divorcement in the presence of two witnesses … as allowed by the law” (Bill Beardall). Of Joseph’s decision, James E. Talmage writes, “Now the Jewish law provided for the annulment of a betrothal in either of two ways—by public trial and judgment, or by private agreement attested by a written document signed in the presence of witnesses. Joseph was a just man, a strict observer of the law, yet no harsh extremist; moreover he loved Mary and would save her all unnecessary humiliation, whatever might be his own sorrow and suffering. For Mary's sake he dreaded the thought of publicity; and therefore determined to have the espousal annulled with such privacy as the law allowed.” One LDS scholar says, “His love for Mary was greater than his own pride.” That’s true. But more than that, his love for was greater than his own hurt.
He put her well-being ahead of his own pain; he wanted to make the breakup as dignified as he could to help her save face. It’s human nature when someone hurts us, to try and hurt them back. But Joseph yielded not to that natural man temptation. He could have subjected her to name calling and public taunts. He could have irreparably injured her reputation. But he knew she didn’t deserve that; no woman does, no matter what she’s done. Rather, he decided to treat her with honor. Matthew calls Joseph a “just man”—in considering, his decision at this bleakest moment of his life, don’t you agree that he was, indeed, a “just man?”
So he makes this decision to put her dignity and her honor and her good name ahead of his own pride and his hurt. Then, the angel appears. Can you imagine how thrilled he must have been when the angel appeared—and her story checked out? Can you imagine Mary’s thrill—for she likely had spent considerable time fretting over “What will Joseph think?” This was a real test for both of them. But Joseph came through—and, as his reward, Heavenly Father gave him one of his best. Mary’s child was the Christ child. Mary’s Son was God’s Only Begotten Son. Thirty-three years later, in a Garden and on the Cross, He paid the terrible price of the Atonement. He gave His life for all mankind, including Mary and Joseph. Through the sacrifice of Mary’s Son, Joseph’s proven love for Mary was made eternal. As for them, so it is for all of us. For, by Christ’s redemption are families made eternal. Think about that: Christ’s infinite love for us makes our love for each other eternal!
I really marvel at the love and honor Joseph displayed for Mary. Where lesser men would have cruelly ridiculed Mary, he treated her with all love he could summon. In consideration of his story and his circumstances, one must conclude that his humble carpenter was truly a great man of God. Of him, it has been said, “He must have been much like the Lord himself, for he was Jesus' earthly example of manhood” (Beardall). Of Joseph’s decision to honor—not hurt—Mary, one LDS scholar writes: “He seems to have known Mary well enough and loved enough not to act precipitously.” And then this scholar adds an important question in which lies a great lesson we can take from
Joseph’s story. The scholar writes, “Please note ... what Joseph did before he acted in this matter. ‘He thought on these things.’ Have you ever been injured or injured others because you acted too quickly?”
What if Joseph had acted rashly? He was in a position where he could have really hurt Mary. Again, a lesser man would have. But what if he had charged in, made charges, called her names and had her publicly humiliated? Would Mary have ever recovered? Would he really have been better off? While it’s true that the Jewish law permitted such behavior, the laws of God do not ever give anyone any cause to ridicule someone in such a manner—in particular, God asks his priesthood bearers to treat women with the utmost respect. Here, was Joseph—Jesus’ example of manhood—and he treated Mary with honor. That’s what a man does.
Said Elder D. Todd Christofferson, “In large measure, true manhood is defined in our relationship to women.” God’s definition of manhood is how well a man treats God’s daughters. Said President Thomas S. Monson: “Men, take care not to make women weep, for God counts their tears.”
Joseph’s example serves an important lesson—for both guys and girls—on how they should treat each other in a dating relationship. These relationships are emotionally-charged. As such, when in a romantic relationship, we have the potential each do great harm to the person who we are dating, but we also have the possibility of treating them in such a way that it builds them up. True disciples of Christ seek to build everyone around them. Conversely, those who are not his disciples behave in ways that injure others.
You and I have both seen disastrous dating relationships. You and I have both seen friends suffer serious emotional pain because the person they were dating acted selfishly or maliciously towards them—and caused them undue hurt. You probably have, like I have, seen a friend cry because your friend’s “significant other” made a cruel comment, or this “significant other” did something that made your friend feel devalued, humiliated and unloved. In such situations, you see how downright devastating such comments and actions can be—and you always wish your friend was with someone who treated him or her better. You can’t control your friends. You certainly can’t control those whom they choose to date. But you can control yourself. For those of us, who seek to be disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, we must never allow ourselves to be that kind of person who inflicts such harm on those we date. We must be different! We must be thoughtful—and give careful consideration to how our words and actions will affect our partner’s self-worth. We must always treat them like we want them to treat us.
You and I have also seen relationships done right—we have seen our friends grow and increase in self-confidence because of the way the person they were dating treated them. Every relationship is going to have its struggles.
Even Zack Morris and Kelly Kapowski had their ups-and-downs. The important thing is that we, like Joseph, treat those we date with respect—no matter what. Our actions toward those we date should be such that we do not become an obstacle between them and the temple. We should ensure that we don’t become an impediment to their true happiness. Even when the relationship sours, we we want them to be better off for having dated us.
There’s two simple ways to make sure this happens: First, live the standards you have been taught and, second, live by the Golden Rule. If the relationship should falter, another consideration should be given to how you handle the break-up. My advice is “Don’t Burn a Bridge.” The person you’ve been dating has genuinely cared for you; and now they’re just going to care for you in a different way. I know that’s not true in all cases, but it is true in most. I have found that some of the best friends and the best advisors I’ve had in life are girls I’ve dated. They’ve hung out with me, and they know me. They’ve become a valuable resource as time has gone on, and I really treasure their friendship. So I would advise you to do everything you can to salvage that friendship. That’s not always possible, and, in some cases, it might be wise to not go forward as friends, but if you can remain friends, it’s really to your benefit.
Finally, I want to spend a few minutes talking about heartbreak and how to deal with it, as I think it is one of the toughest things people our age go through. My worst experience in this category came about five or six years ago. Soon after my mission, I began dating a girl who I just loved. And we dated about a year. In every way, she was my dream: she was smart, she was funny, she was a great person, and she was really pretty—none of my friends could believe she was with me. And I couldn’t believe it either. We had some really serious talks about getting married—and I definitely wanted to. But, then one night, she told she had to talk with me. She told me she had been reading her scriptures when she got her answer—and it was that I was not the one for her.
That was not a fun experience. When I said earlier that I would have cried myself to sleep if I was in Joseph’s position, it’s because when I did find myself in a similar position to Joseph’s, I did cry myself to sleep. Many times. But I am so grateful that I went through that experience because I learned so much from that time. First of all, I know that as much as heartbreak hurts, it really is for our good. As Lehi told Jacob: “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things” (2 Nephi 2:11). The heartbreak we suffer in dating will make us appreciate the love we find in marriage even more. I really think it’s a good thing to have your heart broken at least once in your life. Because I know what it’s like to have my heart really broken, I know that when eternal love comes my way, I will treat my wife better than I would have otherwise.
Because I know what it means to have loved-and-lost, I will treasure an everlasting love even more. Having experienced the bitter, I will better appreciate the sweet (D&C 29:39).
The other thing I learned in this period of my life was just how much I can depend on my Savior. I want to read from Psalms 147:3: “[Christ] healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” I testify that Christ can heal the broken-hearted. I know that in my darkest hours He has been there for me; and I know that in your darkest hours, He will be there for you. I testify that “He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3)—which sorrows and grief he freely welcomed and experienced so that He can help us in our times of trouble. Of this, the great prophet Alma prophesied: “[Christ] will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities” (Alma 7:12). Whatever trial, disappointment or sorrow we may experience, Christ has experienced Himself. Thus, He knows better than anyone else what you are going through and how to get through it. The wisest thing you can do in a time of trouble or any other time is to come unto Christ and put your trust in Him.
I really love Joseph’s story. I think he stands as an example of what a true man is and how we should conduct ourselves, even through the difficult hours of heartbreak. In the early part of Jesus’ ministry, he preached in Nazareth. They rejected him, saying foolishly, “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” (Matt 13:5). This nearsighted response is foolish on two counts: (1) Jesus wasn’t Joseph’s son; He was the son of God, and (2) Joseph was more than just a carpenter—he was one of the greatest men who lived. A man from whose example we can learn much. By taking this time to examine two short verses about him in the Book of Matthew, we have learned how a man of Christ treats the woman he loves, and we’ve learned why it’s important that, when making important decisions, we don’t act rashly, but take the time to think, ponder and pray before we make a weighty decision.
A man of honor
I’m sure most of you remembering camping in the Boy Scouts—and you probably remember that your Scoutmaster saying something like, “Scouts always leave the campground better than they found it.” I think I heard that statement a few million times—and groaned each time that I had to quit burning things in the fire and, instead, pick up a trash bag. But I have really come to believe there is some merit to that statement. The Scouts, as you know, are about honor. And a person of honor always leaves anything he encounters better than when he found it.
That’s true of campgrounds—but much, much more importantly, it’s true of people. A man of honor always leaves the people he encounters better than they were when he encountered them. It may be through a kind word, a helping hand or even a simple hello, but a man of honor always seeks to lift off the burdens of fellow human beings. He never seeks to burden them further. At this point, what a man of honor is far supercedes the label “Scout” and, instead, he bears the label “man of Christ.”
He is fulfilling what he promised to do when he entered the waters of baptism. “At the waters of Mormon, Alma declared that those who seek baptism into the Church ‘are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:8–9).’ (First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve)
Furthermore, a man of honor is fulfilling his role as a priesthood holder, as we read in D&C 128:11-12: “Now the great and grand secret of the whole matter, and the summum bonum of the whole subject that is lying before us, consists in obtaining the powers of the Holy Priesthood. For him to whom these keys are given there is no difficulty in obtaining a knowledge of facts in relation to the salvation of the children of men, both as well for the dead as for the living. Herein is glory and honor, and immortality and eternal life.” Our honor, as priesthood holders, consists of learning about the plan of salvation, teaching it others and helping others make and keep the saving covenants. In the discharge of our priesthood duties, there will be no individuals for whom we have greater responsibility than to our wife and children. We are to help these grow and help sustain them through difficult times. Obviously, our wife and children should be better off because they entered our sphere.
But high on the list of those for whom we are responsible are the people whom we home teach. Just as with your wife and kids, you have a responsibility to those whom you home teach as well. They also must you lift and help grow and help sustain through difficult times. They too must be better off because they entered your sphere. Today, as we examine the need for home teachers and how we can become better home teachers, keep in mind that the calling to home teach may seem routine, but it is, in fact, a sacred calling.
Said President Ezra Taft Benson, while he was president of the Church: “Brethren, home teaching is not just another program. It is the priesthood way of watching over the Saints and accomplishing the mission of the Church. Home teaching is not just an assignment. It is a sacred calling. Home teaching is not to be undertaken casually. A home teaching call is to be accepted as if extended to you personally by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Savior Himself was a teacher. The only perfect man to walk the face of the earth was a humble, dedicated, inspired teacher who brought to His followers salvation and exaltation. Oh, that all the brethren of the Church would catch that vision of home teaching!”
I want you to focus my comments here on that quote. First, consider the line: “Brethren, home teaching is not just another program. It is the priesthood way of watching over the Saints and accomplishing the mission of the Church.” Let me repeat that: Home teaching is the priesthood way of watching over the Church. Most of you know he is referring here specifically to the duties of the teacher—a calling to which we have all been called and to which none of us have been released. In Doctrine & Covenants 20:53, 54, and 59, we read: “The teacher’s duty is to watch over the church always, and be with and strengthen them;
“And see that there is no iniquity in the church, neither hardness with each other, neither lying, backbiting, nor evil speaking
“They are, however, to warn, expound, exhort, and teach, and invite all to come unto Christ.”
As home teachers, we thus have the call to bring people to Christ. We also have the call to be with them and to strengthen them. My mom has taught English 1010 at Dixie College for years and years and years. Each semester, she has her students bring a notebook to class, which they use as a journal, and she gives them the first 10 minutes of class time to write in this journal. And she has them hand it in from time-to-time, so she can make sure they are actually writing in them. I remember her telling me once that I would be surprised at just how many kids write in their journals about how lonely they are and how alone they feel. Whatever loneliness or separation they feel may not be known to many, but it is known to the Savior.
I thought of that yesterday, and I remembered D&C 81:5—and I saw in that verse as a personal plea from the Savior
to those He has called to be home teachers. In that verse, the Savior says: “Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.” In strengthening the feeble knees and lifting up the hands which hang down, we, as home teachers, we must be their friends. I truly believe the call to home teach is the call to be someone’s friend. And, secondly, we have to strengthen them—through our message, through our Spirit, and through our encouragement. It was the Savior who said: “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” (Luke 22:32)
Next, let’s consider the second line from the quote by President Benson that I read earlier. That line states: “Home teaching is not just an assignment. It is a sacred calling.” You can’t think about home teaching as though it were just an assignment that Max makes. Because it is not Max who issued the call. So then who issued the call?
That takes us to the next few lines from President Benson’s quote: “Home teaching is not to be undertaken casually. A home teaching call is to be accepted as if extended to you personally by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Savior Himself was a teacher. The only perfect man to walk the face of the earth was a humble, dedicated, inspired teacher who brought to His followers salvation and exaltation.”
President Boyd K. Packer once said, “I have heard men say in response to a question about their Church assignment, “I am only a home teacher.” Only a home teacher. Only the guardian of a flock. Only the one appointed where the ministry matters most. Only a servant of the Lord!”
President Packer continued by saying: “I . . . realize there are some activities in the Church that are more exciting and some more interesting. Perhaps even most have more appeal. ... I repeat, some activities may have much more appeal, but there is none that is more important. ... Home teaching, strangely enough, is so taken for granted that most members pay little attention to it, participating routinely, sometimes almost with annoyance. Through it, nevertheless, there come to members of the Church a protection and a watch-care not known elsewhere.”
What makes home teaching so important? It’s the individualized nature of the program. Said President Benson:”[Home teachers] are in the front line of defense to watch over and strengthen the individual and the family unit.” In the home, lessons can be personalized. Specific needs can be addressed. Because of that, the Lord can deliver more powerfully a message to one of his children through a home teaching message than he can through a Sunday School lesson. Also, a great home teacher does more than teach, he serves. He tries to improve the lives of those he serves—both spiritually and temporally. He does his best to make sure that all his home teachee’s needs are met—spiritually, temporally and socially.
Said Marion G. Romney: “I feel that the time has come for each bearer of the priesthood to put on the full armor of Christ with respect to home teaching; to stand up like a man of God and do his duty by visiting the home of every member entrusted to his care, as often as is necessary; and to encourage and inspire him to live his life as the Lord would have him live it. If we would so render this service as to receive from the Master the words, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant,’ we must perform it not only as a duty, but, in the true spirit of our beloved Savior, out of a dedicated love and real concern for the eternal lives of one another.”
I like the challenge there from President Romney—Stand Up and Be a Man of God. At the last General Conference,
Elder D. Todd Christofferson said: “We who hold the priesthood of God cannot afford to drift. We have work to do. We must arise from the dust of self-indulgence and be men!” I agree with that. We have work to do. We have home teaching to do. And, in doing home teaching, we can shake off “the dust of self-indulgence.”
Said Elder Russell M. Nelson: “Home teaching opportunities provide a means by which an important aspect of character may be developed: love of service above self. We become more like the Savior, who has challenged us to emulate His example: “What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am’.”
Isn’t that our ultimate goal: To be as He is? Home teaching is another opportunity to forget ourselves and go to work. It’s another opportunity for us, as home teachers, to become more like Christ, as we help others come unto Him. Lastly, returning to the final line of President Benson’s quote: “Oh, that all the brethren of the Church would catch that vision of home teaching!”
What was the vision he wanted us to catch? I think I’ll let him tell it, for he ended this talk by saying the following: “The Good Shepherd gave His life for the sheep—for you and me—for us all (see John 10:17–18). The symbolism of the Good Shepherd is not without parallel in the Church today. The sheep need to be led by watchful shepherds. Too many are wandering. Some are being enticed away by momentary distractions. Others have become completely lost. …
“With a shepherd’s care, our new members, those newly born into the gospel, must be nurtured by attentive fellowshipping as they increase in gospel knowledge and begin living new standards. Such attention will help to ensure that they will not return to old habits. With a shepherd’s loving care, our young people, our young lambs, will not be as inclined to wander. And if they do, the crook of the shepherd’s staff, a loving arm and an understanding heart, will help to retrieve them. With a shepherd’s care, many of those who are now independent of the flock can still be reclaimed. Many who have married outside the Church and have assumed the life-styles of the world may respond to an invitation to return to the fold” As I foresee the troublesome times that lie ahead—when deepening trials and testing shall be thrust upon members of the Church (see D&C 1:12–23; D&C 101:4–5)—the gentle caring of compassionate home teachers may literally save spiritual lives.” Let me end by repeating that last line from President Benson’s talk, for that is the kind of home teachers we must become:
“As I foresee the troublesome times that lie ahead—when deepening trials and testing shall be thrust upon members of the Church —the gentle caring of compassionate home teachers may literally save spiritual lives.”
That’s true of campgrounds—but much, much more importantly, it’s true of people. A man of honor always leaves the people he encounters better than they were when he encountered them. It may be through a kind word, a helping hand or even a simple hello, but a man of honor always seeks to lift off the burdens of fellow human beings. He never seeks to burden them further. At this point, what a man of honor is far supercedes the label “Scout” and, instead, he bears the label “man of Christ.”
He is fulfilling what he promised to do when he entered the waters of baptism. “At the waters of Mormon, Alma declared that those who seek baptism into the Church ‘are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:8–9).’ (First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve)
Furthermore, a man of honor is fulfilling his role as a priesthood holder, as we read in D&C 128:11-12: “Now the great and grand secret of the whole matter, and the summum bonum of the whole subject that is lying before us, consists in obtaining the powers of the Holy Priesthood. For him to whom these keys are given there is no difficulty in obtaining a knowledge of facts in relation to the salvation of the children of men, both as well for the dead as for the living. Herein is glory and honor, and immortality and eternal life.” Our honor, as priesthood holders, consists of learning about the plan of salvation, teaching it others and helping others make and keep the saving covenants. In the discharge of our priesthood duties, there will be no individuals for whom we have greater responsibility than to our wife and children. We are to help these grow and help sustain them through difficult times. Obviously, our wife and children should be better off because they entered our sphere.
But high on the list of those for whom we are responsible are the people whom we home teach. Just as with your wife and kids, you have a responsibility to those whom you home teach as well. They also must you lift and help grow and help sustain through difficult times. They too must be better off because they entered your sphere. Today, as we examine the need for home teachers and how we can become better home teachers, keep in mind that the calling to home teach may seem routine, but it is, in fact, a sacred calling.
Said President Ezra Taft Benson, while he was president of the Church: “Brethren, home teaching is not just another program. It is the priesthood way of watching over the Saints and accomplishing the mission of the Church. Home teaching is not just an assignment. It is a sacred calling. Home teaching is not to be undertaken casually. A home teaching call is to be accepted as if extended to you personally by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Savior Himself was a teacher. The only perfect man to walk the face of the earth was a humble, dedicated, inspired teacher who brought to His followers salvation and exaltation. Oh, that all the brethren of the Church would catch that vision of home teaching!”
I want you to focus my comments here on that quote. First, consider the line: “Brethren, home teaching is not just another program. It is the priesthood way of watching over the Saints and accomplishing the mission of the Church.” Let me repeat that: Home teaching is the priesthood way of watching over the Church. Most of you know he is referring here specifically to the duties of the teacher—a calling to which we have all been called and to which none of us have been released. In Doctrine & Covenants 20:53, 54, and 59, we read: “The teacher’s duty is to watch over the church always, and be with and strengthen them;
“And see that there is no iniquity in the church, neither hardness with each other, neither lying, backbiting, nor evil speaking
“They are, however, to warn, expound, exhort, and teach, and invite all to come unto Christ.”
As home teachers, we thus have the call to bring people to Christ. We also have the call to be with them and to strengthen them. My mom has taught English 1010 at Dixie College for years and years and years. Each semester, she has her students bring a notebook to class, which they use as a journal, and she gives them the first 10 minutes of class time to write in this journal. And she has them hand it in from time-to-time, so she can make sure they are actually writing in them. I remember her telling me once that I would be surprised at just how many kids write in their journals about how lonely they are and how alone they feel. Whatever loneliness or separation they feel may not be known to many, but it is known to the Savior.
I thought of that yesterday, and I remembered D&C 81:5—and I saw in that verse as a personal plea from the Savior
to those He has called to be home teachers. In that verse, the Savior says: “Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.” In strengthening the feeble knees and lifting up the hands which hang down, we, as home teachers, we must be their friends. I truly believe the call to home teach is the call to be someone’s friend. And, secondly, we have to strengthen them—through our message, through our Spirit, and through our encouragement. It was the Savior who said: “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” (Luke 22:32)
Next, let’s consider the second line from the quote by President Benson that I read earlier. That line states: “Home teaching is not just an assignment. It is a sacred calling.” You can’t think about home teaching as though it were just an assignment that Max makes. Because it is not Max who issued the call. So then who issued the call?
That takes us to the next few lines from President Benson’s quote: “Home teaching is not to be undertaken casually. A home teaching call is to be accepted as if extended to you personally by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Savior Himself was a teacher. The only perfect man to walk the face of the earth was a humble, dedicated, inspired teacher who brought to His followers salvation and exaltation.”
President Boyd K. Packer once said, “I have heard men say in response to a question about their Church assignment, “I am only a home teacher.” Only a home teacher. Only the guardian of a flock. Only the one appointed where the ministry matters most. Only a servant of the Lord!”
President Packer continued by saying: “I . . . realize there are some activities in the Church that are more exciting and some more interesting. Perhaps even most have more appeal. ... I repeat, some activities may have much more appeal, but there is none that is more important. ... Home teaching, strangely enough, is so taken for granted that most members pay little attention to it, participating routinely, sometimes almost with annoyance. Through it, nevertheless, there come to members of the Church a protection and a watch-care not known elsewhere.”
What makes home teaching so important? It’s the individualized nature of the program. Said President Benson:”[Home teachers] are in the front line of defense to watch over and strengthen the individual and the family unit.” In the home, lessons can be personalized. Specific needs can be addressed. Because of that, the Lord can deliver more powerfully a message to one of his children through a home teaching message than he can through a Sunday School lesson. Also, a great home teacher does more than teach, he serves. He tries to improve the lives of those he serves—both spiritually and temporally. He does his best to make sure that all his home teachee’s needs are met—spiritually, temporally and socially.
Said Marion G. Romney: “I feel that the time has come for each bearer of the priesthood to put on the full armor of Christ with respect to home teaching; to stand up like a man of God and do his duty by visiting the home of every member entrusted to his care, as often as is necessary; and to encourage and inspire him to live his life as the Lord would have him live it. If we would so render this service as to receive from the Master the words, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant,’ we must perform it not only as a duty, but, in the true spirit of our beloved Savior, out of a dedicated love and real concern for the eternal lives of one another.”
I like the challenge there from President Romney—Stand Up and Be a Man of God. At the last General Conference,
Elder D. Todd Christofferson said: “We who hold the priesthood of God cannot afford to drift. We have work to do. We must arise from the dust of self-indulgence and be men!” I agree with that. We have work to do. We have home teaching to do. And, in doing home teaching, we can shake off “the dust of self-indulgence.”
Said Elder Russell M. Nelson: “Home teaching opportunities provide a means by which an important aspect of character may be developed: love of service above self. We become more like the Savior, who has challenged us to emulate His example: “What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am’.”
Isn’t that our ultimate goal: To be as He is? Home teaching is another opportunity to forget ourselves and go to work. It’s another opportunity for us, as home teachers, to become more like Christ, as we help others come unto Him. Lastly, returning to the final line of President Benson’s quote: “Oh, that all the brethren of the Church would catch that vision of home teaching!”
What was the vision he wanted us to catch? I think I’ll let him tell it, for he ended this talk by saying the following: “The Good Shepherd gave His life for the sheep—for you and me—for us all (see John 10:17–18). The symbolism of the Good Shepherd is not without parallel in the Church today. The sheep need to be led by watchful shepherds. Too many are wandering. Some are being enticed away by momentary distractions. Others have become completely lost. …
“With a shepherd’s care, our new members, those newly born into the gospel, must be nurtured by attentive fellowshipping as they increase in gospel knowledge and begin living new standards. Such attention will help to ensure that they will not return to old habits. With a shepherd’s loving care, our young people, our young lambs, will not be as inclined to wander. And if they do, the crook of the shepherd’s staff, a loving arm and an understanding heart, will help to retrieve them. With a shepherd’s care, many of those who are now independent of the flock can still be reclaimed. Many who have married outside the Church and have assumed the life-styles of the world may respond to an invitation to return to the fold” As I foresee the troublesome times that lie ahead—when deepening trials and testing shall be thrust upon members of the Church (see D&C 1:12–23; D&C 101:4–5)—the gentle caring of compassionate home teachers may literally save spiritual lives.” Let me end by repeating that last line from President Benson’s talk, for that is the kind of home teachers we must become:
“As I foresee the troublesome times that lie ahead—when deepening trials and testing shall be thrust upon members of the Church —the gentle caring of compassionate home teachers may literally save spiritual lives.”
As a burning fire shut up in my bones.
As I read about Jeremiah this week, I just noticed how his story was similar to that of my older sister, Tiffany, so I called up my sister and asked her to e-mail me the story about how she decided to go on a mission. This is what she e-mailed me:
“A few months before I turned 21, I started to think that maybe I was supposed to go on a mission. I really didn't want to, because I knew that spiritually I wasn't where I needed to be, and my knowledge of the scriptures was next to nothing. I couldn't imagine that I was the kind of person the Lord would want out there working for Him. And yet, I couldn't squash those feelings that I should go.
“I took a missionary prep class at the Institute hoping to find clearer reasons why I should or shouldn't be a missionary. One day our teacher asked us to list the reasons why someone should go on a mission. The class came up with a pretty good list, but then the teacher said there was one reason that beat all the rest. He said the best reason to serve a mission was that you loved the Lord. Well, I thought that I was off the hook. I wasn't sure I really did love the Lord enough to serve Him.
“A few days later, I was reading my patriarchal blessing and came across a passage that read: ‘You have a wonderful ancestry and heritage; they loved the Lord. This is a trait given to you, you also love the Lord.’
“There it was in black and white. I couldn't believe it actually said that. The Lord thought I loved Him, and how can you argue with your patriarchal blessing? I knelt by my bed to say the prayer I had been putting off saying for months. I would finally ask Heavenly Father if He wanted me to serve a mission. As soon as I said "Dear Heavenly Father" I felt the spirit stronger than I ever had, and I knew that I was being called to serve a mission. The Lord wanted me to go out into the world and serve Him even though I was unknowledgable and spiritually weak.
“My mission was the best thing that ever happened to me. It completely altered the course of my life. My testimony grew and solidified. Everything I had learned and heard in church and seminary finally clicked for me. I felt like I finally understood what the gospel was and, therefore, I could commit myself to living it better than I had been. I discovered talents that I had been given that continue to help me to serve in the church.
“What you have heard many missionaries say is certainly true in my case, I was the main person that was converted as a result of my mission. I'm so grateful that the Lord called me on a mission.”
Tiffany’s call to serve and subsequent mission parallels Jeremiah’s calling and mission in that (1) the Lord called both to serve, even though both had some feelings of inadequacy when accepting their callings, (2) both were shaped and formed upon the Potter’s Wheel during their missions, and (3) both found a deepened testimony of the gospel, as they served.
Three verses, in particular, really define Jeremiah’s story. The first is Jeremiah 1:5: “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” The key here is to know that the Lord gave Jeremiah a task to perform. As we go through Jeremiah's life, we will see he struggled greatly to perform this task—and even, at times, felt like giving up, yet he persevered, kept going and ultimately succeeded in performing his mission.
The second key verse comes in Jeremiah 18:6: “Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.” This is, I think, the major theme of Jeremiah—through all his trials, Jeremiah was being shaped and formed. This concept of clay in the Potter’s hands corresponds to what the Lord told Joseph Smith when Joseph was in Liberty Jail: “Know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good” (D&C 122:7) Jeremiah and Joseph Smith faced similar persecutions: Jeremiah, like Joseph, was routinely teased, imprisoned and beaten. Like Joseph, a defining moment in Jeremiah’s life came in prison.
Jeremiah had been out prophesying, as the Lord had commanded him to do. He was overheard by Pashur, the chief governor of the Temple. Pashur hated what Jeremiah had to say—so he had Jeremiah beaten and then put him into the stocks by the temple’s high gate so that Jeremiah would be publicly humiliated. It is in the midst of this ordeal that Jeremiah begins mourning how his life has turned out. It’s easy to imagine Jeremiah taking a deep sigh and muttering—Why? I did what the Lord told me to do. Why did it turn out like this? “I am in derision daily,” he laments (Jer. 20:7).
A basic human need is to be loved and accepted—and, in following the Lord, Jeremiah has been met only with hate and loneliness. It’s just easy to feel his frustration, as he considers the way his life has turned out.
Certainly, it’s easy to understand how Jermiah feels because many have felt like that at some point in their lives. His frustration is understandable, and so perhaps is the tantrum that follows—in which he essentially says: “This is it! I am done! No more!”
And that brings us to perhaps what is one of the most remarkable verses in all of the scriptures in Jeremiah 20:9. “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” Let’s look at that one more time: “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name.” But then you look at the very next words he writes: “But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.”
So, there Jeremiah is, so discouraged that he feels he can’t go on, so he makes this vow, this pronouncement that he will no longer speak of the Lord. And you can just see him saying this. And then you can just see him take a sigh—and in a moment of honest, life-changing realization—say, “Ah, who I am kidding? I can't quit teaching God's word! It's been burned too deeply into my heart to quit now.” Two things that really jump out about this verse: 1) the great description of what a strong testimony feels like: “as a burning fire shut up in my bones,” but 2) this verse is really about perseverance—giving God room in your heart (thereby, creating inner strength) so that you can keep going and even move past your trials, no matter how fierce or cumulative they may seem.
I like how Jeffrey R. Holland described this process that happened within Jeremiah: “So speak unto them [Jeremiah] did, but initially not with much success. Things went from bad to worse until finally he was imprisoned and made a laughingstock among the people. Angry that he had been so mistreated and maligned, Jeremiah vowed, in effect, never to teach another lesson, whether that be to an investigator, Primary child, new convert, or—heaven forbid—the 15-year-olds. “I will not make mention of [the Lord], nor speak any more in his name,” the discouraged prophet said. But then came the turning point of Jeremiah’s life. Something had been happening with every testimony he had borne, every scripture he had read, every truth he had taught. Something had been happening that he hadn’t counted on. Even as he vowed to close his mouth and walk away from the Lord’s work, he found that he could not.”
In other words, all the testimonies Jeremiah had ever given, every attempt he made to fulfill his calling, he was really allowing himself to be shaped by the Lord. And when he comes to this critical moment, he discovers that the Lord had been shaping him on the Potter’s Wheel, and Jeremiah finds himself stronger than he thought he was, more converted than he thought he was, and more willing to soldier on in the good fight than he thought he was.
Let me end by quoting James E. Faust, who said: “Any man or woman who enjoys the Master's touch is like potter's clay in his hands. More important than acquiring fame or fortune is being what God wants us to be. Before we came to this earth, we may have been fashioned to do some small good in this life that no one else can do. The Lord said to Jeremiah, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations" (Jer. 1:5). If God has a work for those with many talents, I believe he also has an important work for those of us who have few.
“What is the central characteristic of those having only five loaves and two fishes? What makes it possible, under the Master's touch, for them to serve, lift, and bless so that they touch for good the lives of hundreds, even thousands? After a lifetime of dealing in the affairs of men and women, I believe it is the ability to overcome personal ego and pride—both are enemies to the full enjoyment of the Spirit of God and walking humbly before him.”
So for Jeremiah, and for my sister, Tiffany, the change came from humbly placing themselves on the Potter’s Wheel, going where the Lord wanted them to go, and doing what the Lord wanted them to do. It doesn’t matter whether it was in Jerusalem where Jeremiah served, or the Arizona Tempe Mission where Tiffany served, or the Dixie College Seventh Ward where we serve—what matters is that we do what the Lord wants us to do. And by doing this will we allow Him to instill in us the strength and testimony we need to succeed in this life and attain Eternal Life in the life to come.
“A few months before I turned 21, I started to think that maybe I was supposed to go on a mission. I really didn't want to, because I knew that spiritually I wasn't where I needed to be, and my knowledge of the scriptures was next to nothing. I couldn't imagine that I was the kind of person the Lord would want out there working for Him. And yet, I couldn't squash those feelings that I should go.
“I took a missionary prep class at the Institute hoping to find clearer reasons why I should or shouldn't be a missionary. One day our teacher asked us to list the reasons why someone should go on a mission. The class came up with a pretty good list, but then the teacher said there was one reason that beat all the rest. He said the best reason to serve a mission was that you loved the Lord. Well, I thought that I was off the hook. I wasn't sure I really did love the Lord enough to serve Him.
“A few days later, I was reading my patriarchal blessing and came across a passage that read: ‘You have a wonderful ancestry and heritage; they loved the Lord. This is a trait given to you, you also love the Lord.’
“There it was in black and white. I couldn't believe it actually said that. The Lord thought I loved Him, and how can you argue with your patriarchal blessing? I knelt by my bed to say the prayer I had been putting off saying for months. I would finally ask Heavenly Father if He wanted me to serve a mission. As soon as I said "Dear Heavenly Father" I felt the spirit stronger than I ever had, and I knew that I was being called to serve a mission. The Lord wanted me to go out into the world and serve Him even though I was unknowledgable and spiritually weak.
“My mission was the best thing that ever happened to me. It completely altered the course of my life. My testimony grew and solidified. Everything I had learned and heard in church and seminary finally clicked for me. I felt like I finally understood what the gospel was and, therefore, I could commit myself to living it better than I had been. I discovered talents that I had been given that continue to help me to serve in the church.
“What you have heard many missionaries say is certainly true in my case, I was the main person that was converted as a result of my mission. I'm so grateful that the Lord called me on a mission.”
Tiffany’s call to serve and subsequent mission parallels Jeremiah’s calling and mission in that (1) the Lord called both to serve, even though both had some feelings of inadequacy when accepting their callings, (2) both were shaped and formed upon the Potter’s Wheel during their missions, and (3) both found a deepened testimony of the gospel, as they served.
Three verses, in particular, really define Jeremiah’s story. The first is Jeremiah 1:5: “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” The key here is to know that the Lord gave Jeremiah a task to perform. As we go through Jeremiah's life, we will see he struggled greatly to perform this task—and even, at times, felt like giving up, yet he persevered, kept going and ultimately succeeded in performing his mission.
The second key verse comes in Jeremiah 18:6: “Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.” This is, I think, the major theme of Jeremiah—through all his trials, Jeremiah was being shaped and formed. This concept of clay in the Potter’s hands corresponds to what the Lord told Joseph Smith when Joseph was in Liberty Jail: “Know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good” (D&C 122:7) Jeremiah and Joseph Smith faced similar persecutions: Jeremiah, like Joseph, was routinely teased, imprisoned and beaten. Like Joseph, a defining moment in Jeremiah’s life came in prison.
Jeremiah had been out prophesying, as the Lord had commanded him to do. He was overheard by Pashur, the chief governor of the Temple. Pashur hated what Jeremiah had to say—so he had Jeremiah beaten and then put him into the stocks by the temple’s high gate so that Jeremiah would be publicly humiliated. It is in the midst of this ordeal that Jeremiah begins mourning how his life has turned out. It’s easy to imagine Jeremiah taking a deep sigh and muttering—Why? I did what the Lord told me to do. Why did it turn out like this? “I am in derision daily,” he laments (Jer. 20:7).
A basic human need is to be loved and accepted—and, in following the Lord, Jeremiah has been met only with hate and loneliness. It’s just easy to feel his frustration, as he considers the way his life has turned out.
Certainly, it’s easy to understand how Jermiah feels because many have felt like that at some point in their lives. His frustration is understandable, and so perhaps is the tantrum that follows—in which he essentially says: “This is it! I am done! No more!”
And that brings us to perhaps what is one of the most remarkable verses in all of the scriptures in Jeremiah 20:9. “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” Let’s look at that one more time: “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name.” But then you look at the very next words he writes: “But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.”
So, there Jeremiah is, so discouraged that he feels he can’t go on, so he makes this vow, this pronouncement that he will no longer speak of the Lord. And you can just see him saying this. And then you can just see him take a sigh—and in a moment of honest, life-changing realization—say, “Ah, who I am kidding? I can't quit teaching God's word! It's been burned too deeply into my heart to quit now.” Two things that really jump out about this verse: 1) the great description of what a strong testimony feels like: “as a burning fire shut up in my bones,” but 2) this verse is really about perseverance—giving God room in your heart (thereby, creating inner strength) so that you can keep going and even move past your trials, no matter how fierce or cumulative they may seem.
I like how Jeffrey R. Holland described this process that happened within Jeremiah: “So speak unto them [Jeremiah] did, but initially not with much success. Things went from bad to worse until finally he was imprisoned and made a laughingstock among the people. Angry that he had been so mistreated and maligned, Jeremiah vowed, in effect, never to teach another lesson, whether that be to an investigator, Primary child, new convert, or—heaven forbid—the 15-year-olds. “I will not make mention of [the Lord], nor speak any more in his name,” the discouraged prophet said. But then came the turning point of Jeremiah’s life. Something had been happening with every testimony he had borne, every scripture he had read, every truth he had taught. Something had been happening that he hadn’t counted on. Even as he vowed to close his mouth and walk away from the Lord’s work, he found that he could not.”
In other words, all the testimonies Jeremiah had ever given, every attempt he made to fulfill his calling, he was really allowing himself to be shaped by the Lord. And when he comes to this critical moment, he discovers that the Lord had been shaping him on the Potter’s Wheel, and Jeremiah finds himself stronger than he thought he was, more converted than he thought he was, and more willing to soldier on in the good fight than he thought he was.
Let me end by quoting James E. Faust, who said: “Any man or woman who enjoys the Master's touch is like potter's clay in his hands. More important than acquiring fame or fortune is being what God wants us to be. Before we came to this earth, we may have been fashioned to do some small good in this life that no one else can do. The Lord said to Jeremiah, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations" (Jer. 1:5). If God has a work for those with many talents, I believe he also has an important work for those of us who have few.
“What is the central characteristic of those having only five loaves and two fishes? What makes it possible, under the Master's touch, for them to serve, lift, and bless so that they touch for good the lives of hundreds, even thousands? After a lifetime of dealing in the affairs of men and women, I believe it is the ability to overcome personal ego and pride—both are enemies to the full enjoyment of the Spirit of God and walking humbly before him.”
So for Jeremiah, and for my sister, Tiffany, the change came from humbly placing themselves on the Potter’s Wheel, going where the Lord wanted them to go, and doing what the Lord wanted them to do. It doesn’t matter whether it was in Jerusalem where Jeremiah served, or the Arizona Tempe Mission where Tiffany served, or the Dixie College Seventh Ward where we serve—what matters is that we do what the Lord wants us to do. And by doing this will we allow Him to instill in us the strength and testimony we need to succeed in this life and attain Eternal Life in the life to come.
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