Today at church there was a really good lesson about deception (which takes our faith away) and being valiant in the church. There were a couple things that I got from it, and I thought I would share.
To be clear, the lesson started off by talking about who deceives and why. Of course it is because Satan wants us to be like him, at least by being miserable. I mean, think about it. Heavenly Father is perfect, therefore: His plan is perfect too! But because Satan didn't want to follow it (he used his agency) the consequence was that he could not come to earth to receive a body. That would be pretty miserable. (Not sympathizing, just being logical.)
So what does Satan make his personal goal? To make everyone else miserable as well. Because that is what really prideful, selfish, and demanding people do. So where does it all start when people sin? Yep, you got it: Pride.
Pride is dangerous and unstable. But it is something that we all have to work on bridling and guarding ourselves against. When I think of a good example of pride, I think of (wait for it....) Anakin Skywalker. I mean there he is, found in the middle of a barren planet, and is taken in and trained by some of the best Jedi Knights in the Galaxy. However as he gets older he starts to get a little power hungry. To the point that he joins the dark side, and doesn't come to his senses about his choice until he is honestly about to die. But I digress (I have always wanted to say that).
This is what I found (and makes sense to me) about what happens to us if we let pride in the way.
1. We let pride poison our heart/mind.
2. We refuse to recognize the prophet (or other leaders/parents) as the source of revelation for the church/home.
3. We become critical of leaders imperfections
4. We take offense
5. We rationalize disobedience
6. We accept false teachings of the world to be true.
The interesting thing about it, is that these above six don't have to be things like, "Oh my goodness, Tom murdered someone!" or "Can you believe so-and-so wasn't faithful?!" I hope I'm getting my point across, it doesn't have to be a huge thing to have one of the six above items happen to you. Some people have been upset over their name spelling in the mission calls, some over milk and cream.
This is when we have to remember that for ourselves, and every other person that we interact with is (drumroll please!) IMPERFECT!
In the April 2013 General Conference, Jeffery Holland (member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave this wonderful talk titled Lord I Believe.) I will only quote a part of it for this blog, and I expect to quote more of it as time goes on.
So be kind regarding human frailty—your own as well as that of those who serve with you in a Church led by volunteer, mortal men and women. Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we. And when you see imperfection, remember that the limitation is not in the divinity of the work. As one gifted writer has suggested, when the infinite fulness is poured forth, it is not the oil’s fault if there is some loss because finite vessels can’t quite contain it all. Those finite vessels include you and me, so be patient and kind and forgiving. Isn't that the truth?
So since we've talked about what we should do if we want to be deceived, let me make a list for things that we should do to not be deceived.
To be clear, the lesson started off by talking about who deceives and why. Of course it is because Satan wants us to be like him, at least by being miserable. I mean, think about it. Heavenly Father is perfect, therefore: His plan is perfect too! But because Satan didn't want to follow it (he used his agency) the consequence was that he could not come to earth to receive a body. That would be pretty miserable. (Not sympathizing, just being logical.)
So what does Satan make his personal goal? To make everyone else miserable as well. Because that is what really prideful, selfish, and demanding people do. So where does it all start when people sin? Yep, you got it: Pride.
Pride is dangerous and unstable. But it is something that we all have to work on bridling and guarding ourselves against. When I think of a good example of pride, I think of (wait for it....) Anakin Skywalker. I mean there he is, found in the middle of a barren planet, and is taken in and trained by some of the best Jedi Knights in the Galaxy. However as he gets older he starts to get a little power hungry. To the point that he joins the dark side, and doesn't come to his senses about his choice until he is honestly about to die. But I digress (I have always wanted to say that).
This is what I found (and makes sense to me) about what happens to us if we let pride in the way.
1. We let pride poison our heart/mind.
2. We refuse to recognize the prophet (or other leaders/parents) as the source of revelation for the church/home.
3. We become critical of leaders imperfections
4. We take offense
5. We rationalize disobedience
6. We accept false teachings of the world to be true.
The interesting thing about it, is that these above six don't have to be things like, "Oh my goodness, Tom murdered someone!" or "Can you believe so-and-so wasn't faithful?!" I hope I'm getting my point across, it doesn't have to be a huge thing to have one of the six above items happen to you. Some people have been upset over their name spelling in the mission calls, some over milk and cream.
This is when we have to remember that for ourselves, and every other person that we interact with is (drumroll please!) IMPERFECT!
In the April 2013 General Conference, Jeffery Holland (member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave this wonderful talk titled Lord I Believe.) I will only quote a part of it for this blog, and I expect to quote more of it as time goes on.
So be kind regarding human frailty—your own as well as that of those who serve with you in a Church led by volunteer, mortal men and women. Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we. And when you see imperfection, remember that the limitation is not in the divinity of the work. As one gifted writer has suggested, when the infinite fulness is poured forth, it is not the oil’s fault if there is some loss because finite vessels can’t quite contain it all. Those finite vessels include you and me, so be patient and kind and forgiving. Isn't that the truth?
So since we've talked about what we should do if we want to be deceived, let me make a list for things that we should do to not be deceived.
1. Humble yourself (or be humbled) - (Ether 12:27) Notice that it says "I will show unto them their weakNESS" not "weakNESSES".
2. Know who the Lord has called to lead the church. - Quick Spanish lesson. There are two types of "know" verbs in Spanish. Saber, which is to have knowledge of; and conocer, which is to personally know and be familiar with (usually used with "knowing" a person). I would submit that if we "knew" the leaders of our ward in both of these senses it would be easier to follow them, and accept that they make mistakes just like us.
3. Study the scriptures and the doctrine.
4. Recognize that the things of God ALWAYS edify and/or inspire.
5. Apply the Lord's pattern for protection from deception. (Steps 1-4 all over again).
I really enjoyed Sunday school today, and was really grateful for the lesson! (If you couldn't tell.)
Thanks for posting. I was in primary helping Eve but I knew I was missing a good lesson. Who taught?
ReplyDeletePhil did. He always does a really good job of teaching
ReplyDelete