My car has served me well since I've gotten it, but it's also needed a fair amount of work. There's been some sizable investments to keep it running. Recently the check engine light has come on and has been accompanied by some other indicators that it's probably close to needing some more work.
This week I've been preparing a lesson on President Uchtdorf's recent Conference talk, "On Being Genuine." Uchtdorf invites us to evaluate the motivations that we have, and to resist the temptation to draw attention to ourselves - to become humble, genuine disciples of Christ. He presents a few hypotheticals where we have an opportunity to check the health of our spirituality and then determine where we must make changes through grace and the Atonement.
I've been thinking about how often in our lives it can be very obvious when things are in need of repair or maintenance - there are warning lights, rumblings, and clunking. It's not always as easy to recognize our own need for spiritual and character repair or maintenance. It's not always as obvious that we are breaking, that we are suffering from character weaknesses, addictions, bad habits, or that our choices are causing damage to our spirituality.
This self-evaluation is necessary since we don't have a check engine light that comes on, and that hooks up to a computer to help us diagnose the issues. It takes humility, self-awareness, patience, introspection, and effort. In a world where we can fill our attention and time with many distractions it is easy to neglect the reflection, meditation, and prayerful hours necessary to evaluate ourselves and understand the changes we must make.
I'm grateful that God is patient with me, and speaks to me when I am willing to listen.
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Grace.
I've been thinking about grace from time to time over the past months. I'd like to share some of the thoughts I've had on it. Keep in mind, these are just my opinions on the subject.
According to the Bible Dictionary the main idea of grace is "divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ."
When I was younger I used to think that Christ made up for the gap between God and I. Which is technically true, but with time I've come to better understand what grace is and what it means for me in my life.
In my more limited understanding of the Gospel I fell into the mindset of "Do your best and God will do the rest!"
Like if I were running a race and 80% of the way through I was dying of dehydration and exhaustion then Christ would step in and carry me the last 20% of the race. I think this mindset was reinforced by an incorrect understanding of the scripture found in 2 Nephi 25:23 " . . . for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."
I think that Nephi is teaching something different than what I first thought.
Perhaps he is teaching, "in the end, regardless of how much 'we can do' it is grace that got us anywhere, and it is grace that enabled us the whole way. So in the end, it is by the grace of God through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we have been saved and we have finished the race."
From my understand grace is essentially always operative (if we are turning to God and striving to make changes). Any time we accomplish something difficult or overcome a trial or temptation it is because we have been enable by grace to do so.
In step 7 in the Addiction Recovery Program (Humility) it touches on the concept of being humble enough to ask for the Father's grace, "that through Him we might maintain this new way of life."
We will always be weak during our mortal existence. Grace is the oxygen and lifeblood that enables us to make any progress or conquer any challenge. If we are humble enough to accept that we cannot do anything by our own will and power, we can experience real change and mercy through grace.
We have access to God's grace because his Son Atoned for our sins, shortcomings, and weaknesses.
According to the Bible Dictionary the main idea of grace is "divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ."
When I was younger I used to think that Christ made up for the gap between God and I. Which is technically true, but with time I've come to better understand what grace is and what it means for me in my life.
In my more limited understanding of the Gospel I fell into the mindset of "Do your best and God will do the rest!"
Like if I were running a race and 80% of the way through I was dying of dehydration and exhaustion then Christ would step in and carry me the last 20% of the race. I think this mindset was reinforced by an incorrect understanding of the scripture found in 2 Nephi 25:23 " . . . for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."
I think that Nephi is teaching something different than what I first thought.
Perhaps he is teaching, "in the end, regardless of how much 'we can do' it is grace that got us anywhere, and it is grace that enabled us the whole way. So in the end, it is by the grace of God through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we have been saved and we have finished the race."
From my understand grace is essentially always operative (if we are turning to God and striving to make changes). Any time we accomplish something difficult or overcome a trial or temptation it is because we have been enable by grace to do so.
In step 7 in the Addiction Recovery Program (Humility) it touches on the concept of being humble enough to ask for the Father's grace, "that through Him we might maintain this new way of life."
We will always be weak during our mortal existence. Grace is the oxygen and lifeblood that enables us to make any progress or conquer any challenge. If we are humble enough to accept that we cannot do anything by our own will and power, we can experience real change and mercy through grace.
We have access to God's grace because his Son Atoned for our sins, shortcomings, and weaknesses.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Part III: Addiction
The topic of addiction is one that has come into focus for me over the past months.
There is obviously a very negative connotation with the term addiction, especially as it is a huge obstacle to righteous living.
These are my thoughts on the subject, so take them how you want, and feel free to disagree - or hopefully add to the discussion. My hope is mostly that you receive some new insight on "addiction" and "addicts."
The truth is, I feel like every single one of us is an addict. Some addictions are more obvious than others, and some are more noticeably damaging than others. But whether it is an addiction related to gossip, food, our bodies, sex/pornography/lust, drugs, alcohol, judging, cruelty, envy, pride, etc - they all stem from the same origins, and require the same steps to overcome them.
I read a few months ago a collection of essays by a recovering porn addict (he groups sex and pornography into what he calls an addiction to lust - more or less the objectification of someone to meet your selfish desires) called "Sitting in a Row Boat throwing Marbles at a Battleship." (you can download it here). It was extremely illuminating, and I invite you to please take the time to read the essays. Either it's affecting you directly, or it's affecting someone you care about, and these essays will help you understand what you or they are going through.
Anyway, in one of the essays he talks about how we often focus on the C of addiction. That is the acting out (viewing pornography, self harming, drinking, giving into pride, etc). But what is leading us to act out are the A and B.
The A of addiction is crushing negative emotions - loneliness, self loathing, stress, resentment, frustration, boredom, etc. These things hurt. And they make us hurt. Our brains want to remove that pain - they want to self medicate and numb that pain.
The B of addiction is that numbing of the pain. Chemicals are released in our brain when we participate in our addictions that make the pain go away. That could be by viewing pornography, taking a drink, or harming ourselves. These things can start out as curiosities, but they eventually become coping mechanisms to escape from the pain we feel (pain we might not even realize we are feeling).
That leads to the C of addiction. We act out on our addiction. The relief is temporary and we often feel even worse after giving in.
Whatever our religious beliefs, let us remember that we are all on our different paths to salvation and returning to live with God. We cannot compare our journey to someone else's. What may be a challenge for us is easy for them and vice versa. But whether you're 15 or 85 the steps to recovery are the same.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a program called the Addiction Recovery Program (ARP). It is patterned after the twelve step recovery program used by Alcoholics Anonymous - but it is with the focus and understanding of the Atonement and the truths of the gospel.
The 12 steps outlined in the ARP are essentially the systematic application of the Atonement in our lives. So whether you're trying to overcome an addiction to lust, an addiction to pride, or just be a little bit nicer to people, the steps are the same.
Every single one of us needs the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
You can find the steps of ARP here.
I just want to mention the first and second steps briefly:
Step 1: Honesty - admit that you, of yourself, are powerless to overcome your addictions and that your life has become unmanageable.
Step 2: Hope - come to believe that the power of God can restore you to complete spiritual health.
The Atonement is real, and we all need it. We are all sinners who have come short of the glory of God. Let us be more aware of the struggles of those around us, and more aware of our own need for healing. Let us love each other and support each other.
Sunday, January 11, 2015
charity is not easily provoked.
I think everyone can give you the standard definition of what charity is: the pure love of Christ. I've been reading Jesus the Christ, and a few weeks ago during a Sunday School lesson I had a thought on charity:
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
"Charity suffereth long, and is kind . . . [it] doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil."
What resonated with me recently is that charity "suffereth long, is kind . . . is not easily provoked." Looking to Christ's exemplary life, he was - especially in the last year of his ministry - continuously attacked. The scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees tried to provoke him, to pin him down for blasphemy, and find something they could charge Him with.
Christ knew people's hearts; this came because of His closeness to the Spirit, His lineage of deity, and His humility and patience to understand the motives, fears, hopes, struggles, and faith of each daughter or son of God.
If we are to have charity like Christ, we must have that same humility and patience to understand those around us. We will always run into people we do not see eye-to-eye with, with whom we don't share political, religious, or moral beliefs, who drive us crazy. But charity demands that we have patience with these people and that we have the humility to take the time to try and understand why they have the beliefs they do. Just because someone disagrees with us on how the gospel should be lived, or which political candidate will best serve our country, it does not mean that they're ignorant, uneducated heathens.
Charity demands that we seek to understand the motivations of this person: what life experiences have led them to these conclusions and beliefs, what is most important to them, why do they feel the way they feel and how is that influencing their thought paradigm? What are their hopes, fears, struggles, and where do they put their faith?
We must reserve judgment, we must listen to the other side, and we must love them even when we disagree with what they fundamentally believe. We don't have to change how we feel, but we should give everyone the same humility and patience Christ gave. We can keep disagreeing, but if we try to understand each other, we will at least have a civil discussion that may lead to positive change, and we may even be able to be good friends despite our differences. We will not be easily provoked, but will seek to understand in place of drawing our own conclusions.
This is definitely something I can work on.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
"Charity suffereth long, and is kind . . . [it] doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil."
What resonated with me recently is that charity "suffereth long, is kind . . . is not easily provoked." Looking to Christ's exemplary life, he was - especially in the last year of his ministry - continuously attacked. The scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees tried to provoke him, to pin him down for blasphemy, and find something they could charge Him with.
Christ knew people's hearts; this came because of His closeness to the Spirit, His lineage of deity, and His humility and patience to understand the motives, fears, hopes, struggles, and faith of each daughter or son of God.
If we are to have charity like Christ, we must have that same humility and patience to understand those around us. We will always run into people we do not see eye-to-eye with, with whom we don't share political, religious, or moral beliefs, who drive us crazy. But charity demands that we have patience with these people and that we have the humility to take the time to try and understand why they have the beliefs they do. Just because someone disagrees with us on how the gospel should be lived, or which political candidate will best serve our country, it does not mean that they're ignorant, uneducated heathens.
Charity demands that we seek to understand the motivations of this person: what life experiences have led them to these conclusions and beliefs, what is most important to them, why do they feel the way they feel and how is that influencing their thought paradigm? What are their hopes, fears, struggles, and where do they put their faith?
We must reserve judgment, we must listen to the other side, and we must love them even when we disagree with what they fundamentally believe. We don't have to change how we feel, but we should give everyone the same humility and patience Christ gave. We can keep disagreeing, but if we try to understand each other, we will at least have a civil discussion that may lead to positive change, and we may even be able to be good friends despite our differences. We will not be easily provoked, but will seek to understand in place of drawing our own conclusions.
This is definitely something I can work on.
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