Spiritual Thoughts

It is not very often that I share my spiritual feelings openly but after having such a spiritual Sunday I figured it would be appropriate to share some of my thoughts from today. If there is one thing that I want my children to remember in this life it would be that I loved them more than anything in the entire world. Today's lesson at church was on Jesus Christ, Our Chosen Leader and Savior. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I have always been so grateful for the knowledge I have of our Savior, Jesus Christ. His ultimate example of sacrifice and love is one that is hard to comprehend. But with study I have been able to start to understand and appreciate all that He has done for us. He is our older brother who, knowing the great sacrifice He would make, volunteered to be our Savior. He chose to come to this earth and take upon himself the sufferings and sins of the world. He did this without hesitation and without pride, wanting all the glory to be to the Father. This gift He has given us ultimately is a gift we must learn to develop and share with others. That gift is the gift of LOVE. He was a perfect man who led a perfect life. We can look to Him as the way we should mold our lives. His attributes are that of the Father. These attributes of love, kindness, meekness, humility, charity, patience, virtue...etc are all things we must continually strive to harness and ones we must practice here on this earth. Only through becoming more like our Savior and ultimately like our Father in Heaven will we truly be prepared to live with our Heavenly Father in the eternities. This life is a gift for us to use our free agency to see what we are really made of.

As I have gone through different trials in my life I have pondered the question many others also ask themselves: "Why is this happening to me?" or "Why would such a bad thing happen to a good person." The answer to this question is hard to answer in the trial. Only after the trials of our faith are we able to see what it is we are to learn from our experiences here on earth--both good and bad. When we go through trials, we are humbled. When we are humbled, we are teachable. When we are teachable, we grow and become more like our Father in Heaven. All things in life are for our learning and growth. I take this as a positive thing. Some things are just put in our way to help us learn something that we may not be able to learn any other way.

Knowing is only half the battle though. It is one thing to know such things and another to actually live it. I guess that is why in our church we are always counseled to do certain things that will act as a shield and protection to us. Some of those basic things are reading the scriptures and praying. One thing from today's lesson that really touched me was this statement: "Satan and his followers are also on the earth, but as spirits. They have not forgotten who we are, and they are around us daily, tempting us and enticing us to do things that are not pleasing to our Heavenly Father." Little by little, piece by piece, if we are not careful we will become subject to the power of Satan. He knows our weaknesses and he knows that if we are vulnerable he will be able to bring us down. I realized that even the little things such as complaining about someone or something is part of those little things. Each time we let ourselves step off the path we are allowing Satan to grab a piece of our goodness. How much more important it is then to always control our thoughts and our actions, to truly love our neighbors, and to always be striving to serve our fellowman. When we are doing the Lord's work we will have the strength to overcome any weakness.

I am grateful for my Savior and for His example of long suffering and diligence. I am grateful for the love He has for me and for all of his children here on this earth. I know He lives and that He wants us to be happy. I know that the only way to true happiness is through living the gospel of Jesus Christ--for Jesus is the only way back to the Father. I want my children to know that my testimony is strong and it will not waiver. I am grateful for eternal families. I am comforted to know that I will be with my family forever as long as I choose to live worthily to do so.