It requires effort
I don't know about the rest of you, but yesterday was a pretty good day in my book. I was enlightened, strengthened, and uplifted. I hope it was the same for you.
That being said, I did end the day with some take aways. One of my favorite was Sacrament Meeting. We were blessed with some wonderful musical numbers and the testimonies of others. One in particular has me thinking. As other events of life have unfolded, I continue to think and ponder on the impressions from the meeting.
A sister in our ward quoted the lessons learned from her father. I was grateful for the counsel she shared with us. I don't know that I can quote for word, but what she learned was something like this:
"We should never be embarrassed or ashamed to repent or make change in our lives. If there something that needs to be cleared up with a common judge of Israel, then we need to humble ourselves and do it."
I continue to ponder those words in my life. I have been trying to internalize them and make it applicable to what I do and say. As I do, I realize that part of the repentance/changing of heart is recognizing that our lives, habits, or life styles are not in harmony with the Lord. I think that often times we focus so much on those points of embarrassment or shame that we forget the next step. We let Satan get into our hearts and minds and only dwell the negative aspects of our lives. We let him hold us back from making change or repentance.
We need to recognize, feel the remorse, and then find the desire to make the changes required. Making change is a positive thing. If we cannot let go of the negative, we will never move on to the positive. Does that make sense? I hope so.
We also need to realize that it does not happen over night. Repentance/change is a constant minute to minute process. We need to focus all our efforts on that process. Everything we do, work, school, play, leisure, and more should lead us to that change.
Somedays we will be more successful than others. That is OK, it part of the process. Somedays will be more challenging than others. We may find ourselves missing other desired activities, opportunities, or associations. That is part of the change. We should not just be evaluating ourselves once a week before partaking of the Sacrament. Repantance is more than just living the 10 Commandments. It is looking at all aspects of our lives and making the changes to put all of them in harmony.
We need to take the time each day to review what we have accomplished and what we have not accomplished. We need to humbly speak to the Lord about these things in our prayers. We recognize what we need to do better and re-committ ourselves to those changes on the morrow. When we wake in the morning, we need to ask for assistance in making them happen. Reveiw your goals with the Lord, and seek Him out, His will, His ways out in righteousness. Then we need to get up and do our best.
Don't spend time wallowing in the "What ifs", "If only's", and "If I had's". We need to discuss it with the Lord or His judge, accept the consequences, and them seek positive paths to make the change. We cannot well on what we missed, could have missed, or will miss, but rather focus on what we will do, what we can do, and how we are going to do it.
It requires effort. It requires sacrifice. It requires divine guidance. Are you listening?
That being said, I did end the day with some take aways. One of my favorite was Sacrament Meeting. We were blessed with some wonderful musical numbers and the testimonies of others. One in particular has me thinking. As other events of life have unfolded, I continue to think and ponder on the impressions from the meeting.
A sister in our ward quoted the lessons learned from her father. I was grateful for the counsel she shared with us. I don't know that I can quote for word, but what she learned was something like this:
"We should never be embarrassed or ashamed to repent or make change in our lives. If there something that needs to be cleared up with a common judge of Israel, then we need to humble ourselves and do it."
I continue to ponder those words in my life. I have been trying to internalize them and make it applicable to what I do and say. As I do, I realize that part of the repentance/changing of heart is recognizing that our lives, habits, or life styles are not in harmony with the Lord. I think that often times we focus so much on those points of embarrassment or shame that we forget the next step. We let Satan get into our hearts and minds and only dwell the negative aspects of our lives. We let him hold us back from making change or repentance.
We need to recognize, feel the remorse, and then find the desire to make the changes required. Making change is a positive thing. If we cannot let go of the negative, we will never move on to the positive. Does that make sense? I hope so.
We also need to realize that it does not happen over night. Repentance/change is a constant minute to minute process. We need to focus all our efforts on that process. Everything we do, work, school, play, leisure, and more should lead us to that change.
Somedays we will be more successful than others. That is OK, it part of the process. Somedays will be more challenging than others. We may find ourselves missing other desired activities, opportunities, or associations. That is part of the change. We should not just be evaluating ourselves once a week before partaking of the Sacrament. Repantance is more than just living the 10 Commandments. It is looking at all aspects of our lives and making the changes to put all of them in harmony.
We need to take the time each day to review what we have accomplished and what we have not accomplished. We need to humbly speak to the Lord about these things in our prayers. We recognize what we need to do better and re-committ ourselves to those changes on the morrow. When we wake in the morning, we need to ask for assistance in making them happen. Reveiw your goals with the Lord, and seek Him out, His will, His ways out in righteousness. Then we need to get up and do our best.
Don't spend time wallowing in the "What ifs", "If only's", and "If I had's". We need to discuss it with the Lord or His judge, accept the consequences, and them seek positive paths to make the change. We cannot well on what we missed, could have missed, or will miss, but rather focus on what we will do, what we can do, and how we are going to do it.
It requires effort. It requires sacrifice. It requires divine guidance. Are you listening?
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