Get Out!

     The past 6 months, I have led my life by a personal motto. "If you always do what you've always done, you'll get the results you've always got". Ever since I decided to live by this, my life has been so much better. When I think of why, it's because I've had the courage to do what I truly want/need to do. It's so easy to become caught in the flow of everyday life, forgetting to do what we love. Forgetting to step out of our comfort zones and do something new. There are numerous scriptures that talk about courage that have special meaning in my life. Two of these are Mosiah 4:27 and Philippians 4:13.
     The scripture in Mosiah says that we need to do things in order. We need to not worry so much about all the little things in life holding us back from what will make us happy, but that we need to step out with courage and do the things we've always desired. At first, making changes and doing new things is daunting. But like this verse says, we shouldn't "run faster than [we have] strength...we should be diligent, that thereby we might win the prize". I know that as we pray for confidence and strength, the Lord will help us be courageous and do new things.
     Philippians 4:13 says that through Christ, we can do all things, because he gives us strength. I know that this is true. Christ wants us to succeed and in order to succeed we must progress. Whether it be major changes, career decisions, marriage decisions, etc., Christ wants us to be happy and he will help us as long as we turn to him.
     Since I've realized this, I've become more confident in my decisions and in the way I lead my life. I'm more willing to do things outside of my comfort zone because I know that "there's no comfort in the growth zone and no growth in the comfort zone". Knowing that my Savior wants me to grow, I will pray for strength so that I can continue on through the help of my Lord. So get out of the comfort zone and walk with God. He will lead you to what he has planned for you.

It's There. Just Reach and Take Hold.

     You know those people in life who can't forgive anyone? I've recently had people close to me tell me of people they don't think they could ever forgive. Then, of course, the next day in class, we talked about Christ's atonement and the power of repentance and forgiveness. And then 3 days later, I taught my visiting teachees the monthly lesson, which was also on Christ's atonement and his love for us. The Lord's timing is impeccable.

Because of our Savior's infinite love for us, we are given the opportunity to start again. With ourselves and with others. Romans 8:35, 38-39 lists many things that cannot and will not ever come between us and Christ's love for us. No creature, height or depth can separate us "from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord".

     The suffering of Christ in the garden, allows us to takes steps to come unto Christ. We are told in Moroni 10:32 to "come unto Christ and be perfected in him". Okay, so we know that we are to come unto him, but how?! We know what we want/want to do, but the struggle is understanding how to come unto him. Matthew 5:3-10 tells us step by step how to come unto Christ, through the atonement. The steps are: humility, mourning, meekness, hunger and thirst for righteousness, mercy, become pure in heart, become a peacemaker and be persecuted for righteousness. We can't expect to come to know Christ without using the atonement that he graciously suffered for us, so that we could be forgiven and be released from suffering.

     Because Christ suffered for us, we must use his atonement to show our love and commitment for him. If we can't forgive others, we're saying "I'm good enough to use the atonement but you aren't. What you've done is greater than Christ's sacrifice". When we do this, we completely undermine the significance of the idea that Christ's atonement is for all. We must use the steps given to us in Matthew to truly forgive. We must fill the gaps in the stairs and take the next step. We can't sit down on the steps and hope things will become better on their own, or think all is lost and quit.

     Ironically, the hardest person for most of to forgive is ourselves. It's sad, but true. When we don't forgive ourselves, we sit on the steps and stop any progression. We allow ourselves to be defined by our past mistakes rather than our future potential. We tell Jesus no! We tell him that what he suffered isn't enough because our badness is bigger than his goodness and grace. We can't let the 'history' part of us hold the 'present' us from moving on. Don't let it hold you hostage. Satan wants us to be bound by our badness, not our potential greatness.

     I know that by using the steps given to us, we can truly forgive ourselves and others. When we become pure in heart through humility, mourning, meekness, hunger and thirsting for righteousness and mercy, the Lord takes care of the rest. He wants us to come unto him and be perfected. We must allow him to help us. He's already given it to us, we just must reach out and accept and use it.

Through Christ, all Things are Possible.

3 Nephi 27:13-21

This week, in class, we learned about how much the Savior truly helps us. Sometimes I feel as if every blog I post is the same, but I think that's because the overarching topics are often so similar. We are helped, because we are loved. How great that knowledge is. Anyways, in 3 Nephi 27 it talks about obedience, sacrifice and agency. In verse 13, Christ says that he "came into the world to do the will of [his] father, because my father sent me". I love that he says he came, because his father sent him. How often do we do things solely because we've been asked? There's always an alternative motive that drives us to do things, more than just because we've been asked. From Christ's example, I will strive to do things when people ask me, for them and not 'secretly' for myself.

Sacrifice is obvious throughout this chapter. Jesus Christ was lifted up upon the cross by men for what reason? Why such an intense sacrifice?? Couldn't Heavenly Father asked his Son to do something less traumatic? I believe that he could have, yet Christ's obedience and willingness strengthens my testimony in Purpose. In verses 14 and 15, it says that he was lifted up upon the cross "that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil". This purpose behind Christ's sacrifice leads to the theme of agency. When verse 14 and 15 says that we will be "judged of our works", what does this mean? Because of Christ's sacrifice, we are able to repent and be baptized in his name and then endure to the end. As we do this, or works, we can choose to draw near to the Lord, or choose a path that leads us further from Christ. With either choice, we will eventually be brought to Heavenly Father where we will be judged. Verses 13-15 and 16-21 have an interesting distinction. 13-15 goes over Jesus' Atonement, Judgement and Resurrection-which Christ does completely alone. 16-21 goes over our agency-which is our part, yet he is still helping us. We are never alone. We are to learn, yet we won't ever truly be alone.

I know that by living an obedient life we can be truly happy. The word happy comes up a lot in my blogs. I know that that's because through Christ, I am happy. Because he has given me the agency to choose to be happy, and with that agency I will choose to be happy. Being happy is the least I can do to show my gratitude for the sacrifice of my Savior.

Prayer and Faith Lead to Happiness.

This week I was able to go to the Provo City Center temple! It's pretty new and I hadn't had the chance to go before this week so I was super excited. As I went to the temple, I had a lot on my mind. I have a crazy week coming up and I seem to be...having a harder time than usual, at balancing my time between fun and school work. Boo. As I entered the changing room in the temple, I sat down and quickly said a prayer that I would be filled with peace and confidence that I would be able to do all that I need to. Then I went and waited for my session to start and I opened up the scriptures. I rarely read in the bible, but for some reason I picked up the bible and opened it to Psalms, which I also never read. I'm glad however, that I was drawn to this book, and specifically chapter 27. Immediately as I began to read, I was filled with the love of my Savior.
The first verse reminds us that the Lord is our light and literally our salvation. With this knowledge, who should we fear? It then goes on to talk about David being afraid of troublemakers and all that they might tempt him to do, yet he calls on the Lord to raise him up upon a rock so that he will be protected from sin. I love this because it reminds me that when we seek the face of the Lord, he will speak to us and protect us. He says multiple times that because of what he knows, and the help he knows the Lord will provide, that he has confidence. This word obviously grabbed me as I had been praying for this. I know that with confidence and through faith in God, we can do all things.
As I continued reading Psalm 28 and 29, I was even more comforted as the words strength and peace were repeated over and over. "The Lord is [our] strength". No matter what is going on in life, he is always there to help us. When we least believe in ourselves, he is always there. "The voice of the Lord is powerful...my heart trusted in him, and I am helped" (Psalm 28:7; 29: 4). I'm continuously amazed, every time I realize how great the hand of the Lord is in my life. How aware he is of me. I know that through prayer and faith, I am truly happy.