I love love love this part in the Book of Mormon. It is one of my favorite parts of all of the scriptures. I want to tell you a few reasons why:
#1 I feel like I could have been there!
When I read this part in the scriptures, it is easy for me to put myself in the shoes of the Nephites. I can feel how they must have felt seeing their resurrected Lord after having had the signs given to them that he had been crucified.
#2 I wish I WAS there!
I always thought as a child that if Jesus came to my day, he would have come to Primary first. He would have come to see the children. At the time I thought that, I was one. Now that I am an adult, I think about what it must have been like to hear his counsel. I would have listened to every word. I would have taken in all that I could and tried to do every thing that he said. Why is it so much harder now? Because I didn't hear it from his mouth? I don't know. But I still wish I was there.
#3 His teachings are a blueprint for our lives!
There are only a few places in the scriptures where you can find a summary of all of the things that our Savior wants us to do. This is one of those places. I am so grateful for the reminders this week as I read. It has helped me to be a better wife and mother as his thoughts are more in my thoughts every day.
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Samuel the Lamanite and Pride leads to Wickedness
In our scripture reading this week there were two things that stuck out to me.
The first thing is Samuel. I was amazed at the amount of faith and courage that he had. Enough courage to stand up for what he knew was right. He was willing to stand in front of all of those people and preach the gospel to them despite them throwing stones and arrows at him. The faith that he had as those arrows were coming towards him must have been incredible. The thought that came to me was:
Where would I be in all of this? Would I be one of the believers that stood by and listened as Samuel tried to share the gospel? Or would I be one of the ones throwing arrows?
The hope in my heart is that I would be one of the believers. However, would I cave in to the pressure from those around me that were throwing the stones? I would hope that I would be surrounded by people that would believe and have strong enough testimonies to hear through the crowds of non-believers.
The second thing that occurred to me was how quickly the people went from being wicked to righteous and back again. At first I thought that it was completely ridiculous that they flip flopped so much. Then I realized that it all stemmed from pride. Pride has a way of wiggling into even the most righteous hearts and planting seeds of jealousy, hate, entitlement, and many other feelings. When you feel more important than someone else, you start to have feelings in your heart that rather quickly turn you away from the Lord and his will.
So how can I prevent that from happening in my own life? I can be humble. I have had my fair share of humbling experiences that have taught me more about myself than I ever thought that I needed. But without being humble and teachable, I cannot hear what the Lord's will for me is. I need to heed his words and learn to turn my will over to Him. When I do that, the pride cannot lay hold in my heart. I just hope I can do that as I strive to be more like my Savior each day.
The first thing is Samuel. I was amazed at the amount of faith and courage that he had. Enough courage to stand up for what he knew was right. He was willing to stand in front of all of those people and preach the gospel to them despite them throwing stones and arrows at him. The faith that he had as those arrows were coming towards him must have been incredible. The thought that came to me was:
Where would I be in all of this? Would I be one of the believers that stood by and listened as Samuel tried to share the gospel? Or would I be one of the ones throwing arrows?
The hope in my heart is that I would be one of the believers. However, would I cave in to the pressure from those around me that were throwing the stones? I would hope that I would be surrounded by people that would believe and have strong enough testimonies to hear through the crowds of non-believers.
The second thing that occurred to me was how quickly the people went from being wicked to righteous and back again. At first I thought that it was completely ridiculous that they flip flopped so much. Then I realized that it all stemmed from pride. Pride has a way of wiggling into even the most righteous hearts and planting seeds of jealousy, hate, entitlement, and many other feelings. When you feel more important than someone else, you start to have feelings in your heart that rather quickly turn you away from the Lord and his will.
So how can I prevent that from happening in my own life? I can be humble. I have had my fair share of humbling experiences that have taught me more about myself than I ever thought that I needed. But without being humble and teachable, I cannot hear what the Lord's will for me is. I need to heed his words and learn to turn my will over to Him. When I do that, the pride cannot lay hold in my heart. I just hope I can do that as I strive to be more like my Savior each day.
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