God Gives us Power, Love, and Sound Mind

 2 Timothy 1:7-8 says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.." 

Since God wants us to feel power and love and have a sound mind. He also wants us to not be afraid of sharing our testimony. This lesson hit me hard. I have been afraid to share about the gospel on social media since the last election because I had gotten some contentious comments that made me shy away from sharing gospel or humor related memes. This means I was afraid to share my testimony in a way that I had felt free to share in the past. I need to move past this fear and once again be happy to share the gospel. 

I am happy to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am had many experiences that have helped me grow my testimony. If asked, I tell people why I feel this way. 

I know that Heavenly Father helps us love others. October 2020, President Oaks gave a talk entitled, "Love Your Enemies" in which he speaks of the animosity around the election. He tells us that we should not treat people poorly just because they have different points of view. He reminds us, "The Savior's teaching to love our enemies is based on the reality that all mortals are beloved children of God."

I learned a really good lesson about piece of mind when the world was shut down at the beginning of the pandemic. I was worried about how it would affect my oldest child because he lost his prom and thought he would lose his graduation as well. About a year prior he was also depressed, and I was worried that he would be again. I did not know how to help him. One day, I went on a walk and prayed for my boy. After I wrapped up my prayer, I kept walking to feel the calm. At this time, I could feel the Lord speaking to me. He told me to trust the process. I was not sure what that was going to look like, but I made the decision to do just that. As I listened to the recommendations and the prophet, I felt peace. Graduation did not look like what we had originally imagined, but he did graduate. I felt at peace when I decided to be vaccinated. It did not bother me when I was told to wear a mask. I got used to working from home (the thing that turned out to be a bigger blessing than I had expected). 

I know that the Lord does not want me to fear the events in going on in the world. He want me to feel love, power, and peace. 

Obey God's Will

 As I have said before, we live in a confusing, troubling time. There are wars we know about, and some we do not. We have been trying to recover from a world wide pandemic for the past two years. There are protests about things that matter to some but not to others. Priorities seem to have shifted from helping our neighbor to proving they are wrong when they do not agree with your opinions. In all of this confusion and uproar, how do we know which side to take? How do we know we are following the right advise?

As a follower of Christ, I can find these answers in the scriptures. Romans 12:2 says, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." We should be asking ourselves, is what we are saying or doing in accordance to Heavenly Father's commandments? 

If we seek to prove someone wrong instead of loving them despite our differences, are we acting in accordance to God's will? What do the scriptures say? John 13:34 says, "...love one another; as I have loved you..." He does not give an exception. We are to simply love unconditionally, as Heavenly Father and Jesus do. 

We have been warned many times in the scriptures that there would be people who would lose their faith. I, personally, have seen this happen with many people in the past 10 or more years, especially since the beginning of the pandemic. Two years ago, we were suddenly cut off from people outside our immediate households for the most part. For some, we still are. For others, there has been a slow transition back to a semblance of what it was like before we were asked to stay home. Being kept from Church, we were left to find a way to teach our families from home. Thankfully, there are many resources on the Church website that could assist us. There is also other information available online. Unfortunately, some of this information lead people away from the truth "...giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared..." (1 Timothy 4:1-2). 

When we follow God's will, we receive blessings. We learn in 1 Timothy 4:16 that when we "...heed...unto the doctrine..." we will "...save (ourselves), and them them that hear (us)." This is a great blessing. It tells us that we will accomplish the great goal of eternal salvation. 

Faith Through Tribulation

I have been through so many hard things in my life: my parents' divorce, the loss of my mom and brother when I was in high school, facing the infidelity of a spouse and subsequent divorce, and the list can go on. There was a time when I thought I was broken and forgotten. I made some regrettable decisions, but they led me to where I am today. 

This week, I learned a lot about how following the Lord though faith can help us. Romans 8:31-32 says, "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him for us all, how shall he not with him also freely five us things?" This tells us that putting our trust in God does not keep us from hardships, but it gives us protections we can not get anywhere else. He did not save Christ from being betrayed by Judas, being whipped, having a crown of thorns placed on His head, and being crucified even though this was His only begotten Son. This was allowed to happen because of its purpose. If God would allow this horrible thing to happen to Jesus because of the future implication, why would He not do the same for us. 

In 2009, my husband at the time gave me a blessing that I would know of his love and devotion to me. Then, he left to meet up with a girl with whom he was cheating. I spent the majority of the rest of the night finding evidence of this betrayal on his computer. For years I did not understand why this was allowed to happen. As we were studying the New Testament in Sunday School, and I was studying the Old Testament I had a realization. My now ex-husband was able to give me this blessing not because of his worthiness; it was because of mine. Since I had the faith to ask for the blessing, I was given the real answers. The knowledge that he was not as dedicated to our family as he claimed. This lesson too longer than I would like to admit to figure out, but it is not a lesson I will forget. 

Why was I allowed to go though this trial? I believe it was because of the lessons I learned from this. I have become a better person and hope to be able to help others with this knowledge as well. 

I do not know why I have gone through other things in my life, but I have faith that I will learn at some point. I have faith that there will be blessings waiting for me in the next life. In 2 Corinthians 4: 17-18, we are told that our afflictions are "but for a moment," and we learn that we may not see the blessing of going through these trails with faith in this life. We may have to wait for the eternal blessings earned from these acts of faith. That does not mean that we are here just to suffer and wait for the rewards. In 2 Nephi 2:25, it says, "...men are, that they might have joy."

Who Do We Trust?

We have so many uncertainties in the world today and so many messages that can make the world even more confusing. There are men and women that people look up to who have a lot of education or life experience. The problem is that their words do not always bring us peace or understanding. The best way to feel peace is to trust God and His messengers. 

1 Corinthians 2:10 says, "...your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." This tells us that when there is any question as to who we should be listening to when we are uncertain, we should follow the advise that aligns with the teaching of our Heavenly Father. 

There are many issues where this applies. One issue that gets brought up a lot is the idea of what makes a family. This was addressed September 23, 1995 in The Family: A Proclamation to the World. It tells us that "marriage between a man and woman is ordained of God." It also tells us the roles of the husband and wife and the consequences when chastity is violated or in cases of abuse. There are many who believe that this is outdated. People will stand up for abuse victims, but they will defend the right of those who choose infidelity. We cannot get these messages confused. Infidelity hurts a family, too. It is not a physical hurt, it is an emotional one. 

You may say that this is not a difficult issue to understand, but there are many others that are not as black and white. There are other resources that can answer those questions as well. For example, many research study in the past few years have come out saying that a glass of wine a day is healthy. Does that me we can indulge in a glass of wine day? We can check the scriptures for the answer to that. Doctrine and covenants 89:4-5 tells us, "...In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forwarn you, by giving you this word of wisdom by revelation - That inasmuch as nay man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good..." 

It does not matter how long ago these revelations were received. If the "wisdom" of the world is contrary to what the Lord has told us, we should not follow it.