Because He First Loved Us

I had such a wonderful day at church yesterday. Our Stake Presidency visited and spoke to us about Charity, forgiveness and focusing on the good in all we say and do. It was so uplifting. President Christiansen focused a lot on God's love and how it works within us. He quoted the following:

“We think we have to change, grow and be good in order to be loved. But rather we are loved and we receive His grace so we can change, grow and be good.” - John Powell

Image by, Mark Mabry

It's true! In 1 John 4:19 it teaches "We love Him, because he first loved us." Grace is truly an enabling power. I pondered how often I extend grace to my fellow man or how often I only give love when I feel it's been "earned". What would happen if I gave love regardless of how others receive it? What miracles would happen, especially in my own heart?

I felt like yesterday was such a feast. I appreciated how humbling the messages were for me. I love meetings like that!

What is not seen...

Have you ever found yourself complaining about the various complications in your life only to meet someone who's story makes your problems seem like a cake walk?...

As I was waiting in the Dr.'s office today for my son's appointment, I met such a person. She was very pretty and as our conversation began I would have assumed she had a fairly easy life.

We began to talk about our children. She told me she had 6 and then went on to tell me about some struggles she is having with one of her daughters. She feels it might be in part due to her husband's injuries in Iraq. A couple of years ago her husband, the father of her troubled daughter, was wounded while serving in the military causing him to be blind, deaf and partially brain damaged. She talked of the personality change in the man she had married and how she felt as if she didn't even know who he was anymore. The struggles she spoke of sounded like something only found in nightmares. She is carrying so much weight on her own.

It broke my heart and I wanted to wash all her pain away and give her a brand new life with everything in place as she dreamed it would be. I wished I could wave a magic wand and that she'd have her loving companion to come home too, to talk to and enjoy life together, working together so she wasn't alone in raising her children. A few times I tried to hold back my tears because I just wanted to cry for her. I asked her how she even began to find a support group for a situation like hers? She told me she finds strength and support in knowing that Christ understands her and knows her pain. She confides in Him and He has provided many blessings in the course of it all.

I have to wonder how I would hold up under circumstances like hers.... It frightens me to think of what I would do... or not do. I'm afraid I would just shut down and give up. I'd like to think I'd keep my faith, I pray I would! But I honestly don't know how I would handle the horrible things she's been through.

After we went our separate ways I found myself thinking of an old quote I had hanging on my wall as a teenager, "I used to complain I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet."

As we parted, I reflected on how much differently we would treat people if we only knew what they were going through. How much more merciful would we be, more willing to listen or slow down and offer the right of way? What opprotunities would we take to show expressions of kindness, of encouragement if we knew the achings deep within that person's heart?

I often think about the Atonement of my Savior, Jesus Christ, and how He took upon Him all our grief, pain, guilt, sorrow and sin etc. What about His pain and grief?! What about the weight He felt just from the sorrows of His own life?! He had been betrayed, beaten, despised and mocked not just by His enemies but also His own friends.... And now He was taking on Himself very literally the weight of the world! Ironically, I think it was His focus on others, His compassion for their pain that helped Him see beyond His own grief enough to Atone for us.

I pray to have my eyes open every day. Let me not be blind to the blessings I have nor to the help I can give.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf said it best, "there are so many people in need whom we could be thinking about instead of ourselves....There are so many ways we could be serving. We have no time to become absorbed in ourselves...When we see the world around us through the lens of the pure love of Christ, we begin to understand humility...We don’t discover humility by thinking less of ourselves; we discover humility by thinking less about ourselves. It comes as we go about our work with an attitude of serving God and our fellowman."

The Abundant Life

During the Christmas Season I often ponder upon what makes a person rich? In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught us to lay up for ourselves "treasures in heaven." What are treasures in heaven and how do we obtain them?

Jesus of Nazareth also observed in his teachings the following:
"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10.)

And this next promise Jesus gave is recorded four times in the New Testament:
"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."

"The abundant life, of course, has little to do with the acquisition of material things, though there are many wonderful individuals who have been blessed materially and who use their wealth to help their fellowmen—and this is most commendable. The abundant life noted in the scriptures is the spiritual sum that is arrived at by the multiplying of our service to others and by investing our talents in service to God and to man. Jesus said, you will recall, that on the first two commandments hang all the law and the prophets, and those two commandments involve developing our love of God, of self, of our neighbors, and of all men. There can be no real abundance in life that is not connected with the keeping and the carrying out of those two great commandments." - Spencer W. Kimball

"If we would truly reform mankind, we must first reform ourselves." - Spencer W. Kimball

Just something to think about....

How thankful I am for the example of perfect selflessness and charity of my Savior!

the quotes in this post are clips from a talk entitled, "The Abundant Life" originally given in 1977 by President Spencer W. Kimball (Prophet of God from 1973 -1975)

When All Else Fails, Love Never Gives Up

Lucile F. Johnson When All Else Fails, Love Never Gives Up August 14, 2000 BYU Broadcasting

This is a talk I watched the other day that I thought was really, really good. I recommend it to any married couple or to anyone planning to get married. Great talk!!!

Watch or listen to it here Lucile F. Johnson When All Else Fails, Love Never Gives Up August 14, 2000 BYU Broadcasting

Have a great day!

Had a hard day...

This is a new video just made.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz41YxNiHEg&feature=channel_page
I watched it with my husband today.... and it brought tears to our eyes. I know we have a loving Father in Heaven who hears and answers our prayers.

President Ditier F. Uchtdorf said last year at womens conference... "In the end, the number of prayers we say may contribute to our happiness, but the number of prayers we answer may be of even greater importance. Let us open our eyes and see the heavy hearts, notice the loneliness and despair; let us feel the silent prayers of others around us, and let us be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to answer those prayers."

"They do much good"

I was just listening to some conference talks from this most recent conference. And I really liked this part from Elder Quentin L. Cook Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, entitled, "Our Father’s Plan—Big Enough for All His Children"

"Notwithstanding the significance of our doctrinal differences with other faiths, our attitude toward other churches has been to refrain from criticism. They do much good. They bless mankind. Many help their members learn of the Savior and His teachings.

A reporter for the Washington Post visited one of our Church meetings in Nigeria. The reporter interviewed one new member and told of his conversion. The reporter states:

“[He] said . . . he jumped off a city bus and walked into the [LDS Church building]. . . . He immediately liked what he heard inside [the chapel], especially that no one preached that people of other faiths were going to hell.” This echoes the feeling of numerous converts to the Church since its organization.

Our leaders have consistently counseled us “to live with respect and appreciation for those not of our faith. There is so great a need for civility and mutual respect among those of differing beliefs and philosophies.”

It is equally important that we be loving and kind to members of our own faith, regardless of their level of commitment or activity. The Savior has made it clear that we are not to judge each other. This is especially true of members of our own families. Our obligation is to love and teach and never give up. The Lord has made salvation “free for all men” but has “commanded his people that they should persuade all men to repentance.”- Elder Quentin L. Cook Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Trust in God

Pieces of a talk by, Elder Jeffery R. Holland entitled, "Lessons From Liberty Jail"
listen to it or read it for free here http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1798

Everyone Faces Trying Times

Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail
painting by, Liz Lemon Swindle

"Every experience can become a redemptive experience if we remain bonded to our Father in Heaven through that difficulty. These difficult lessons teach us that man’s extremity is God’s opportunity, and if we will be humble and faithful, if we will be believing and not curse God for our problems, He can turn the unfair and inhumane and debilitating prisons of our lives into temples—or at least into a circumstance that can bring comfort and revelation, divine companionship and peace…."

"…whenever these moments of our extremity come, we must not succumb to the fear that God has abandoned us or that He does not hear our prayers. He does hear us. He does see us. He does love us. When we are in dire circumstances and want to cry “Where art Thou?” it is imperative that we remember He is right there with us—where He has always been! We must continue to believe, continue to have faith, continue to pray and plead with heaven, even if we feel for a time our prayers are not heard and that God has somehow gone away. He is there. Our prayers are heard. And when we weep He and the angels of heaven weep with us…."

"…When lonely, cold, hard times come, we have to endure, we have to continue, we have to persist. That was the Savior’s message in the parable of the importuning widow (see Luke 18:1–8; see also Luke 11:5–10). Keep knocking on that door. Keep pleading. In the meantime, know that God hears your cries and knows your distress. He is your Father, and you are His child…."

"…Even though seemingly unjust circumstances may be heaped upon us and even though unkind and unmerited things may be done to us—perhaps by those we consider enemies but also, in some cases, by those whom we thought were friends—nevertheless, through it all, God is with us."

Even the Worthy Will Suffer

"Father Forgive Them"

painting by, Liz Lemon Swindle

“We need to realize that just because difficult things happen—sometimes unfair and seemingly unjustified things—it does not mean that we are unrighteous or that we are unworthy of blessings or that God is disappointed in us. Of course sinfulness does bring suffering, and the only answer to that behavior is repentance. But sometimes suffering comes to the righteous, too.”

“….In fact, it ought to be a matter of great doctrinal consolation to us that Jesus, in the course of the Atonement, experienced all of the heartache and sorrow, all of the disappointments and injustices that the entire family of man had experienced and would experience from Adam and Eve to the end of the world in order that we would not have to face them so severely or so deeply. However heavy our load might be, it would be a lot heavier if the Savior had not gone that way before us and carried that burden with us and for us.”

“Very early in the Prophet Joseph’s ministry, the Savior taught him this doctrine. After speaking of sufferings so exquisite to feel and so hard to bear, Jesus said:
I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they [and that means you and I and everyone] might not suffer if they would repent. [D&C 19:16]

In our moments of pain and trial, I guess we would shudder to think it could be worse, but the answer to that is clearly that it could be worse and it would be worse. Only through our faith and repentance and obedience to the gospel that provided the sacred Atonement is it kept from being worse.

Furthermore, we note that not only has the Savior suffered, in His case entirely innocently, but so have most of the prophets and other great men and women recorded in the scriptures. Name an Old Testament or Book of Mormon prophet, name a New Testament Apostle, name virtually any of the leaders in any dispensation, including our own, and you name someone who has had trouble.

My point? If you are having a bad day, you’ve got a lot of company—very, very good company. The best company that has ever lived."

"First, God has not forgotten you, and second, the Savior has been where you have been, allowing Him to provide for your deliverance and your comfort.”

Remain Calm, Patient, Charitable, and Forgiving

“When we face such distressing circumstances in our life and there is something in us that wants to strike out at God or man or friend or foe, we must remember that “no power or influence can or ought to be maintained [except] by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; . . . without hypocrisy, and without guile” (D&C 121:41–42; emphasis added).

It has always been a wonderful testimony to me of the Prophet Joseph’s greatness and the greatness of all of our prophets, including and especially the Savior of the world in His magnificence, that in the midst of such distress and difficulty they could remain calm and patient, charitable, and forgiving—that they could even talk that way, let alone live that way. But they could, and they did. They remembered their covenants, they disciplined themselves, and they knew that we must live the gospel at all times, not just when it is convenient and not just when things are going well. Indeed, they knew that the real test of our faith and our Christian discipleship is when things are not going smoothly. That is when we get to see what we’re made of and how strong our commitment to the gospel really is.

Surely the classic example of this is that in the most painful hours of the Crucifixion the Savior could say, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). That is a hard thing to ask when we’re hurting. That is a hard thing to do when we’ve been offended or are tired or stressed out or suffering innocently. But that is when Christian behavior may matter the most.”

Sound Advice

I love to listen to speeches by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. I found this one today called "How do I love thee?" http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=326

Sometimes I find myself asking the opposite, "How do they love me?".... This question only brings self pity, jealousy, hurt, anger and ultimately misery. This question is a black hole collapsing in on it's self... because that's it's only concern. And who can love a parasite?

I have no control over how others love, how others show kindness, how others forgive, how thoughtful others are. I can set an example... but the way another person shows love is totally up to them.

However I do have control over how I love... "How do I.... How do I.... love thee?"

Here's just a few bits and pieces from Elder Holland's talk. I think this will be a good one for me to listen to over and over again. It's sound advice for me.

"The first element of divine love--pure love--... is kindness, its selfless quality, its lack of ego and vanity and consuming self-centeredness. "Charity suffereth long, and is kind, [charity] envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own"...
... True love blooms when we care more about another person than we care about ourselves. That is Christ's great atoning example for us, and it ought to be more evident in the kindness we show, the respect we give, and the selflessness and courtesy we employ in our personal relationships.

Love is a fragile thing, and some elements in life can try to break it. Much damage can be done if we are not in tender hands, caring hands. To give ourselves totally to another person, as we do in marriage, is the most trusting step we take in any human relationship. It is a real act of faith--faith all of us must be willing to exercise.

....In all that Christ was, He was not ever envious or inflated, never consumed with His own needs. He did not once, not ever, seek His own advantage at the expense of someone else. He delighted in the happiness of others, the happiness He could bring them. He was forever kind."- Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles

"Ishmael, Our Brother"

War is such a complicated thing! We hear about terrorism on the news and so often the media associates terrorism with Arabs or Muslims... and I think that is just SAD!

Wherever you go you will find good people, honest and true people, responsible citizens, people who love their family's, who love God and practice virtue. You can find them in just about any culture, country, religion, these people are just like us. And on the flip side, you can find the opposite in just about every race, religion and background. The trouble comes when we label and generalize and say all people of that race are this, or all people of this religion are that. How sad when we cluster people like that and cynically brand them like a herd of cattle. Just because someone is Arab or because someone is Muslim does not make them a terrorist!

Many Arabs are peaceful, charitable citizens and have not chosen this war, they are victims too. The Terrorists are the Extremists and have grossly twisted their religion to fit their own agenda and create terror.

I have been doing some studying on Islam. It must be known that the name Islam means "peace." I have a very good and wonderful friend who practices Islam. I believe her religion is very sorely misunderstood as are many Arabs. The Koran teaches charity and doing good to all men. I can see this with my friends who are Muslim, I have been amazed at how incredibly charitable they are.

Last night I went to lds.org and searched "Islam"...

To my surprise I found a very long article from a 1979 Ensign entitled, "Ishmael, Our Brother". I was fascinated with it and it brought me some greatly needed incite. I hope you might take the time to read it to better understand our Muslim and Arab brothers and sisters.
Love,
Alicia

Here is a link to the article printed 30 years ago about Islam http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=68ea615b01a6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1

Christian Courage

"To respond in a Christlike way cannot be scripted or based on a formula. The Savior responded differently in every situation….

"Some people mistakenly think responses such as silence, meekness, forgiveness, and bearing humble testimony are passive or weak. But, to “love [our] enemies, bless them that curse [us], do good to them that hate [us], and pray for them which despitefully use [us], and persecute [us]” (Matthew 5:44) takes faith, strength, and, most of all, Christian courage….
When we do not retaliate—when we turn the other cheek and resist feelings of anger—we too stand with the Savior. We show forth His love, which is the only power that can subdue the adversary and answer our accusers without accusing them in return. That is not weakness. That is Christian courage.

I assure you that to answer our accusers in [kindness] is never weakness. It is Christian courage in action.

“As we respond to others, each circumstance will be different. Fortunately, the Lord knows the hearts of our accusers and how we can most effectively respond to them. As true disciples seek guidance from the Spirit, they receive inspiration tailored to each encounter. And in every encounter, true disciples respond in ways that invite the Spirit of the Lord. Paul reminded the Corinthians that his preaching was “not with the enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Corinthians 2:4). Because that power resides in the Spirit of the Lord, we must never become contentious when we are discussing our faith.”

“…More regrettable than the Church being accused of not being Christian is when Church members react to such accusations in an un-Christlike way! May our conversations with others always be marked by the fruits of the Spirit—”love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, [and] temperance” (Galatians 5:22–23). To be meek, as defined in Webster’s Dictionary, is “manifesting patience and longsuffering: enduring injury without resentment.”2 Meekness is not weakness. It is a badge of Christian courage.”

“This is especially important in our interactions with members of other Christian denominations. Surely our Heavenly Father is saddened—and the devil laughs—when we contentiously debate doctrinal differences with our Christian neighbors.”

“This is not to suggest that we compromise our principles or dilute our beliefs. We cannot change the doctrines of the restored gospel, even if teaching and obeying them makes us unpopular in the eyes of the world. Yet even as we feel to speak the word of God with boldness, we must pray to be filled with the Holy Ghost (see Acts 4:29, 31). We should never confuse boldness with Satan’s counterfeit: overbearance (see Alma 38:12). True disciples speak with quiet confidence, not boastful pride.”

“Sometimes others want us to come down off the high ground and join them in a theological scrum in the mud. These few contentious individuals are set on picking religious fights, online or in person. We are always better staying on the higher ground of mutual respect and love.”

“…all who seek to know how we should respond to our accusers, I reply, we love them. Whatever their race, creed, religion, or political persuasion, if we follow Christ and show forth His courage, we must love them. We do not feel we are better than they are. Rather, we desire with our love to show them a better way—the way of Jesus Christ….To help them, to be an example for them, is not for the weak. It is for the strong. It is for you and me, Latter-day Saints who pay the price of discipleship by answering our accusers with Christian courage.”

- Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

view entire talk given Oct. 2008 http://www.lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-947-22,00.html

or listen to it on MP3 http://www.lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,23-1-947,00.html

(may be viewed in many different languages.) http://www.lds.org/conference/languages/0,6353,310-1,00.html