Believe

Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend. Mosiah 4:9

Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. Moroni 10:32

Conversion

Thinking about conversion to the gospel and all that it entails gives me an interesting perspective on politics. So much of politics and government seems to involve efforts to force the people to behave in certain ways, to redistribute wealth, to control the economy, to control healthcare, and many other things. Although the ostensible purpose is to create a good life for the people, it really amounts to an effort to grab power and control for the elite few, who think they know better than everyone else what is needed. And wasn't that Satan's plan--to force people to be perfect and to gain power for himself?

Although most people are not likely to be evil at heart, forcing others to behave in certain ways does nothing to create a perfect society. A review of history shows how wrong these plans go. Look at the histories of Russia, China, and Cuba for three examples.

So what does this have to do with conversion? Conversion to the gospel changes people from the inside out, rather than from the outside in as communism, socialism, and Marxism attempt to do. Look at these scriptures from 4 Nephi 1.

2 And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another....
15 And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.
16 And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God.
17 There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God.

Does that not describe a truly good society that yet is free? There was no coercion, no resentment, no confiscation of one's goods to give to another. All was shared freely and willingly in love for God and for their fellowmen. That is the ideal and it cannot be forced.

Naturally enough, conversion to the gospel also cannot be forced upon people. It can, however, be spread by teaching and example, by love and patience. And is not this the best way, the only way, to develop a society of equality and justice and kindness and generosity?

As each one of us, individually and from the heart, becomes converted unto the Lord, Zion grows a bit stronger. As our example spreads to those around us, Zion grows a bit stronger still. We must live in a free society in order for this to take place. As He always does, God knows what He is doing. The plans of men, the philosophies of men, cannot replace the plan of God, our Heavenly Father, for all His children.

Commitment

How do we become committed to the gospel so that we are fulfilling our callings, sharing the gospel, serving others, showing up for activities, and so forth? I have been surprised to learn that some of the young women in our ward won't commit to a meeting or activity even just two days ahead of time because they "don't plan that far ahead." Sometimes teachers just don't show up on Sunday. Is that because people like to leave their options open in case they want to sleep in or something "fun" comes up to do instead? Is it poor planning, or no planning? Poor time management?

An eternal perspective and regular prayer and scripture study can help one realize the importance of the gospel and help one to set priorities. Still, we have to want to do those things and put our lives in order. We have agency and choice. So what do we do to want to commit and to make good choices?

I think about what Alma said about faith in Alma 32. He talked about nourishing even just the desire to believe and encouraging it to grow. That is what we can do about commitment--nourish even just the desire to be a committed Latter-Day Saint. The prayer, scripture study, and being open to the inspiration of the Holy Ghost can give us the knowledge about the gospel that we need in order to be committed to it. Perhaps, too, we need to teach ourselves and our children to make and keep commitments even in small everyday ways. We can commit to daily prayer and scripture study, commit to do our daily chores, commit to go to work or school or church, or other routine matters in our lives. How well do we already keep such commitments? Can we do a little better?

Do we need to learn how to manage our time better? Maybe we just need to sit down and think through a day or a week and make some notes to ourselves about what we need to do and when.

Those things will help with the mechanics of commitment, but ultimately we need to learn to know and trust our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, so that we grasp the importance of commitment and of what we should commit to.

I don't have all the answers and I am certainly far from perfect, but it concerns me that people today don't seem all that committed to things. What do you think would help turn this around?

On Relying on the Lord

I am feeling much better these days. Still not 100%, but not dead on my feet anymore!

I have been doing a lot of thinking and praying lately about being humble and obedient. It is a shame that these states of being have gotten such a bad reputation. They conjure up images of being weak doormats, which is far from what they are. Our pride gets in the way and we worry about losing our individual identity, forgetting that we have our agency and also that we are each a unique package of traits and gifts and abilities that will not disappear if we are humble and obedient.

Becoming converted to the gospel and living it all of our lives depends on our humbling ourselves before the Lord and recognizing that His will for us is what is best for us. Our uniqueness means that our service to the Lord will have its own individual stamp and will add something to the building of Zion that no other can add in quite the same way. We do not lose by being humble and obedient--we only gain. We gain faith and strong testimonies and a goodness that comes in no other way. We gain help and comfort and strength and blessings from the Lord. We gain in better relationships and love with other people. We gain knowledge and understanding and wisdom and confidence. We gain a completeness that we can find in no other way.

Becoming humble, obedient, and converted is not something that we come to in an instant. It is an ongoing process of growth and progress. We can help it along with prayer, scripture study, fasting, and service. We help it along, too, in fellowship with others and in developing such virtues as patience, integrity, charity, and so forth. We can allow the Lord to lead us and guide us without holding back parts of ourselves. We can recognize His omnipotence and omniscience and can trust Him completely.

Everyone has issues that they struggle with. That is a part of the testing, trying, and proving of mortal life. Becoming humble, obedient, and trusting the Lord can lead us to the answers we need. Sometimes those answers are slow in coming, but the Lord knows what He is doing. Sometimes we will have to wait until the next life to understand some things because of the mortal limitations we are living under now. This does not mean that there are no answers, just that we have to wait for them.

By putting the Lord first in our lives and relying on Him, we can live up to our potential and be the people that the Lord means for us to be. He does not hold us back--He urges us onward and upward. Not just for this mortal life, but for all eternity.

On Being Humble

Mosiah 4 in the Book of Mormon is a wonderful chapter full of instruction and promises. It is also a chapter that invites much pondering and application to our own lives. (It also contains the verses--Mosiah 4:16-26--about the beggar that s'mee and I referred to in the comments in my previous post.)

What I am thinking about today is whether we perhaps do not take the concept of being humble far enough. Do we think of being humble as just avoiding bragging? Do we think it is just refraining from calling overmuch attention to ourselves? Do we think it is just admitting that we aren't perfect? Those are outward manifestations of being humble, but I think it should go much deeper. A phrase found in a number of scriptures leaps to mind--a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

As I read Mosiah 4, I have the idea that we must humble our entire selves before God and recognize that without Him, we are completely powerless--powerless to save ourselves. We do have our agency and we can choose to do this or not. If we choose to become completely humble, I think it requires an all-encompassing trust in God and in His Son Jesus Christ. It requires that we do not hold back parts of ourselves or favorite sins or anything else. And it requires believing that His power to save us is greater than our power to make mistakes and commit sins--that He can save even us.

I don't think I have found the words to truly express what I am thinking, but what do you think? Do you think that maybe we believe in God and in Jesus Christ, but that maybe we don't have faith that He loves us individually and personally? Do we believe that He will help others, but doubt that He will help us? Do we not trust Him completely?

My thoughts are that if we can become truly humble and allow God into our hearts and minds completely and obey Him and keep His commandments, then we will learn that He will indeed save even us. We will learn to trust Him completely in all things. We will become truly converted.

This is not something we can come to in an instant, but is rather a process over time, but if we can work on this--if I can work on this--we will come to a greater relationship with God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost than we can now imagine. I think, too, that our relationships with other people will be transformed as we learn to see them as God sees them. And as we let God teach us, will we not learn the gospel more thoroughly than we now know it?

Please share your thoughts with me.