September 29 - Becoming

Since the power was out last week and church services minimized, we continued our discussion about commandments this week.  We focused on why we have commandments and how keeping the commandments benefits and ultimately blesses us.  We discussed the roles adversity, affliction, and the Lord's chastening play in helping us learn, grow, and make course corrections.  Our ultimate goal is to become like the Savior.

In preparation for General Conference next week and for next month's Sunday School lessons on the topic "Becoming More Christlike," I've asked students to read and ponder the following conference talks:

• Dallin H. Oaks, "The Challenge to Become"
• Neal A. Maxwell, "Becoming a Disciple"

I've also asked students to write down some ways that they have been inspired to become more Christlike based on what they hear in conference.  I'm excited to hear what they have to say in the coming weeks!

References

Jesus Is Found in the Temple by Carl Heinrich Bloch 

September 15 - The Purpose of Commandments

 

Did God give us commandments so we would feel restricted or hampered in what we wanted to do?  Is His goal to make us miserable by making every day an unending checklist that we inevitably fail at accomplishing?

Sometimes, life may feel like that. Especially when we feel overwhelmed or challenged, we need to remember that the commandments are a gift. A loving Heavenly Father didn't send us to earth without giving us instructions on how to return to him and on how to be happy and avoid making choices that would heap misery on us.  The commandments are a gift.  Without having to learn solely through trial and error, we can largely avoid the pitfalls of having agency by following Christ's teachings and his example.  That's not to say we won't have trials--we will.  But we can avoid heaping additional burdens on ourselves, and we'll have opportunities to experience real joy and lasting peace, if we follow His instruction manual.  And more than keeping a checklist of dos and don'ts, we should focus on becoming who the Lord wants us to be... which is "even as [He is]" (3 Nephi 27:27).

In class today, students read parts from the following talks:

Robert D. Hales, "If Thou Wilt Enter into Life, Keep the Commandments"
Dallin H. Oaks, "The Challenge to Become"
D. Todd Christofferson, "As Many As I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten"
Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Forget Me Not"

Some of the key ideas that I hope the students came away from class with include the following:

• "[The] commandments are loving instructions provided by God our Father for our physical and spiritual well-being and happiness while in mortality.  Commandments allow us to know the mind and will of God regarding our eternal progression.  And they test our willingness to be obedient to His will." (Robert D. Hales)
• "The commandments are not a burden or a restriction.  Every commandment of the Lord is given for our development, progress, and growth." (Robert D. Hales)
• "It takes courage to keep the commandments.  To fail to do so because of peer pressure is to have the fear of man--to be more afraid of what man thinks about us than what God thinks about us.  I have never understood why someone would have a greater concern about man's opinion than about God's opinion." (Robert D. Hales)
• "Each of us is free to accept or reject the commandments, but none of us is free to modify them to suit our personal preferences.  Priesthood leaders do not have the right to change revealed principles and commandments just for the sake of being popular with the world.  Nor do prophets have the authority to alter God's commandments in order to make them more palatable to those who are weak in their resolve to live worthily." (Robert D. Hales)
• "Living the commandments brings us into harmony with Deity; we become one in purpose with the Father and the Son.  When we are one with God, we walk with spiritual light.  Our diligence in keeping the commandments allows the Holy Ghost to dwell within us.  We are given the gift of personal revelation.  This is a spiritual light that protects us and serves as a beacon, guiding us in righteous ways.  It dispels the darkness of the adversary.  So powerful is this light that it can reach us even when we are drawn into a black hole of sin so deep and so dark that we believe no spiritual light could even penetrate." (Robert D. Hales)
• "In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something." (Dallin H. Oaks)
• "The gospel of Jesus Christ is the plan by which we can become what children of God are supposed to become.  This spotless and perfected state will result from a steady succession of covenants, ordinances, and actions, an accumulation of right choices, and from continuing repentance. . . . Now is the time for each of us to work toward our personal conversion, toward becoming what our Heavenly Father desires us to become." (Dallin H. Oaks)
• "The . . . experience of enduring chastening can refine us and prepare us for greater spiritual privileges." (D. Todd Christofferson)
• "Divine chastening has at least three purposes: (1) to persuade us to repent, (2) to refine and sanctify us, and (3) at times to redirect our course in life to what God knows is a better path." (D. Todd Christofferson)
• "If we sincerely desire and strive to measure up to the high expectations of our Heavenly Father, He will ensure that we receive all the help we need, whether it be comforting, strengthening, or chastening." (D. Todd Christofferson)
• "Let us not walk the path of discipleship with our eyes on the ground, thinking only of the tasks and obligations before us.  Let us not walk unaware of the beauty of the glorious earthly and spiritual landscapes that surround us." (Dieter F. Uchtdorf)
• "In our diligent efforts to fulfill all of the duties and obligations we take on as members of the Church, we sometimes see the gospel as a long list of tasks that we must add to our already impossibly long to-do list, as a block of time that we must somehow fit into our busy schedules.  We focus on what the Lord wants us to do and how we might do it, but we sometimes forget the why. . . . While understanding the 'what' and the 'how' of the gospel are necessary, the eternal fire and majesty springs from the 'why.'. . .The 'what' and the 'how' of obedience mark the way and keep us on the right path.  The 'why' of obedience sanctifies our actions, transforming the mundane into the majestic.  It magnifies our small acts of obedience into holy acts of consecration." (Dieter F. Uchtdorf)

References

Photo by Lori Allred

Hales, Robert D. (April 1996). "If Thou Wilt Enter into Life, Keep the Commandments." The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Downloaded from http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1996/04/if-thou-wilt-enter-into-life-keep-the-commandments?lang=eng on 9/8/2013.

Oaks, Dallin H. (October 2000). "The Challenge to Become." The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Downloaded fromhttp://www.lds.org/general-conference/2000/10/the-challenge-to-become?lang=eng on 9/8/2013.

Christofferson, D. Todd. (April 2011). "As Many as I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten." The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Downloaded from http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/as-many-as-i-love-i-rebuke-and-chasten?lang=eng on 9/8/2013.

Uchtdorf, Dieter F. (October 2011). "Forget Me Not." The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Downloaded from http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/general-relief-society-meeting/2011/09/forget-me-not?lang=eng on 9/8/2013.

September 1 - Our Family Visions and Our Eternal Destinies

We commenced our discussion of what we would like for our future families by discussing the ideas the students had come up with during the last week about the spiritual, intellectual, emotional, temporal, physical, and experiential aspects of life that would be in place in the students' ideal future family situation.

I then shared a couple of personal experiences. The first was to illustrate that sometimes we assume other people don't have a vision of their families or hopes or dreams for the future, because their visions are so different from ours. We need to take care to really hear those we care about, so that we can work toward a plan that can meet every family member's needs, wants, and dreams, as much as possible.

The other experience underscored the importance of honestly and openly discussing family priorities with future spouses and really striving to ensure that priorities are largely in synch with each other before getting married. If spouses don't have similar values and visions, or if they purposefully mislead each other, that can quickly lead to marital misery.

We then talked about how, even if we plan to the best of our ability, life doesn't always work out the way that we hoped or dreamed. We need to be willing to adapt to the Lord's vision for our lives and our families.

I played an audio clip from a commencement address that Elder Hugh B. Brown of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave at Brigham Young University in 1968. He was in his 80s talking to a group of young 20-somethings who were about to graduate, and he wanted them to know about God, their relationships with God, and His plan for their lives. In the context of this discourse, he shared what has since become known in some circles as "The Parable of the Currant Bush." I wanted the students to hear his testimony in his own voice. I remember that I first heard it when I was about their age, and it changed my life.

The full audio of his devotional address can be found here:

Hugh B. Brown, "God Is the Gardener"

Edited print versions of the currant bush story can be found here:

Hugh B. Brown, "The Currant Bush" (published in 1973)
Hugh B. Brown, "The Currant Bush" (republished in 2002)

I'll share a few words here: "There are many of you who are going to have some very difficult experiences: disappointment, heartbreak, bereavement, defeat. You are going to be tested and tried to prove what you are made of. I just want you to know that if you don’t get what you think you ought to get, remember, 'God is the gardener here. He knows what he wants you to be.' Submit yourselves to his will. Be worthy of his blessings, and you will get his blessings."

References

Photo by Lori Allred

Hugh B. Brown (1973). "The Currant Bush." The New Era, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Downloaded from http://www.lds.org/new-era/1973/01/the-currant-bush?lang=eng on 9/1/2013.