Making Personal Covenants With God
Filed under: Basic Beliefs of Mormons, Becoming More Christlike, Book of Mormon, D & C, Pearl of Great Price, Fruits of gospel living, Gospel Principles, Practices & Precepts, Jesus Christ, Obedience, Teachings
Mormons are a covenant-making people. When they are baptized, they covenant that they are willing to take on the name of Jesus Christ and to keep the commandments. In the temple, as adults, they make additional covenants with God, promising to keep the commandments at an even higher level.
Baptism is the first formal covenant Mormons make.
A covenant is a two-way promise between God and man. God sets the terms, but if we keep our part of it, God will always keep his part. They’ve been a part of God’s relationship with mankind from the earliest days. The Old Testament is filled with stories of covenants God made with His people and the results that came about when people chose to obey or disobey the covenant.
You don’t have to be Mormon to make a covenant with God. Throughout the Bible, we find many places where God has asked us to do something and told us what He will do for us if we obey. As you read the Bible, begin marking those verses and recording them in a notebook. Be sure to record both the commandment and the promise. Then, as you pray, make a personal covenant with God to honor His request. Read more
True Worship
Filed under: Becoming More Christlike, Book of Mormon, Book of Mormon Stories, Jesus Christ, People in the Book of Mormon, Written for Our Day
In the Book of Mormon, a missionary named Alma went with others to preach to a group of people called the Zoramites. This was an apostate group that had formed around a leader named Zoram. Alma and his missionary companions were shocked by what they saw when they visited the “worship” service of these people. They’d never seen anything like it and they felt sick at what they observed. Read more
What is Your Birthright Worth?
Filed under: Becoming More Christlike, Discipleship: Following in the Savior's Footsteps, Leading a Balanced Life, Obedience
The Old Testament tells of twins, Jacob and Esau. Esau was the oldest, and according to Jewish custom, was entitled to the birthright blessing. However, one day Esau came home very hungry to find Jacob had made pottage, which is a stew. He asked Jacob for some and Jacob agreed, but only if Esau would give him the birthright in exchange. Esau, not understanding the importance of the birthright, really wasn’t that interested in it. He cared more about his immediate physical needs than in God’s plan for him or in his eternal life. He happily sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, a term that has come to mean something worthless. Later, of course, when he matured and understood what he had given up, he was sorry he’d done so. The pleasure of the stew was long gone and he had nothing to show for it, while Jacob’s birthright had eternal blessings attached.
Prayer helps us prioritize.
While most of us find it silly that someone would sell his eternal blessings for stew, many of us sell off God’s blessings for things of even lesser importance than stew. Each time we choose to violate a commandment, we are choosing to sell our birthright.
Our birthright is to receive all of God’s promised blessings for our lives on earth and to have the life He hopes we will have. In eternity, our birthright is to return to God to live forever. When Jesus lived on the earth, He consistently warned people they must keep the commandments if they wished to be with God after their deaths.
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (See Matthew 7:21.)
Each time we make a choice, we are prioritizing our values. If we decide to disobey a commandment, we’ve put that particular sin above the commandment in our priorities. We’ve decided the sin is worth more than the blessings associated with the commandment—in other words, we’ve sold our birthright for something that has only temporary benefit.
Mormons teach that we are expected to live a health code known as the Word of Wisdom. Sometimes a person will say, “I can’t believe God will keep me out of Heaven just because of a cup of coffee.” They are turning the problem around of course. What they should say is, “I can’t believe I’m willing to give up Heaven over a cup of coffee.” The same reasoning can be said of any sin we decide we value more than we value an eternity in God’s presence. When Jesus was on the earth, a young man asked Him how He could follow Jesus. Jesus reminded him of the commandments, but the man said he’d been doing all those things since he was a child. In response, Jesus offered Him another commandment: that of giving up all his worldly possessions. The man went away sadly. This he wasn’t willing to do. He preferred to sell his birthright for a fancy home or some other possessions. He had great possessions, and he had decided they were worth more to him than eternity.
Sometimes the mistaken priorities we set aren’t sins; they’re simply less important than the place we give them on our life scale. Many people put their careers or politics higher on their priority list than they do God. If being a Christian might damage their rise up the ladder to fame and fortune, they keep it a secret from those who know them. Some might decide they need the extra money they’ll earn working on Sunday more than they need the blessings that come from keeping the Sabbath Day holy. (We’re talking here about elective work, not essential work, or having no choice in the matter.)
When Jesus visited the home of Mary and Martha, Martha was terribly anxious about putting a good meal on the table for Jesus. It is without question important to give our best to Jesus, but when she complained about Mary, who was, instead of helping, letting Jesus teach her, Jesus helped Martha put her priorities in order. He gently told her that even though what Martha was doing was good, it was not the most important thing she could be doing at that moment. Jesus didn’t care about a fancy meal; He did care about teaching Mary and Martha the gospel. At another time, doing the housework might be the best use of Martha’s time, but at that particular moment, learning the gospel was the most important part. What was a feast at one time became a mere mess of pottage at this particular moment.
Take a few hours to look at how you plan and use your time. You’ll find that even though you are very busy, you always find time for the things you put first in your life. The challenge then is to make sure the first things go first. You have to be at work at a certain time and stay until a certain time, so although work may not be the most important thing in your world, it is the priority during that time. But do you really have to put in the many hours of overtime that keep you from your family or prevent you from doing God’s work? Do you need to earn as much money as you’re earning, or would it allow you to use your time in a more eternally important way if you turned down the next promotion or accepted less of the optional overtime?
What about your hobbies? There is nothing wrong with relaxing, but where do your hobbies fit into your priority scale? Is there a way to relax and to do something good at the same time? Could you develop a new hobby that also serves a purpose—perhaps gardening or teaching someone to read? What would happen if you decided to replace the morning newspaper with a half hour of scripture reading?
Each time we make a choice that puts something else over the teachings of God, or the priorities He wants you to have at this moment, we’re selling our birthright. Is what you’re getting worth what you’re giving up to get it?
Which gets your loyalty—pottage or eternity?
The Atonement is Personal
Filed under: Basic Beliefs of Mormons, Becoming More Christlike, Blessings, Discipleship: Following in the Savior's Footsteps, Finding Happiness, Finding Truth, Finding joy within the gospel, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Joy in our relationship with the Savior, Mortal Ministry & Mission, Postmortal Life
Jusus' atonement was for us personally.
This article contains many quotes from religious leaders and scriptures. Following the links in the credits will take you to the complete reference, where you can learn more on this eternally significant topic.
The atonement was made for everyone, but perhaps most importantly, it was made for you personally. If only one person had needed the atonement, Jesus Christ would have accepted that responsibility. The sins he took on were not consolidated. He experienced every sin individually, and so the atonement was for you because Jesus loves you that much.
“His Atonement does indeed cover the world and all people from the beginning to the end. Let us not forget, however, that in its comprehensiveness and completeness it is also intensely personal and uniquely crafted to fit perfectly and address perfectly each of our own individual circumstances. The Father and the Son know each of us better than we know ourselves and have prepared an Atonement for us that is fully congruent with our needs, challenges, and possibilities,” (Cecil O. Samuelson Jr., “What Does the Atonement Mean to You?,” Liahona, Apr 2009, 14–19.) Read more
Moral Courage
Filed under: Becoming More Christlike, Finding Happiness, Finding Truth, Jesus Christ, Leading a Balanced Life, Obedience
One of the purposes of mortal life is to prove to God that we will keep His commandments when that takes courage (Henry B. Eyring, “Moral Courage,” Liahona, Mar 2010, 4–7).
An important aspect of Mormon beliefs is that one purpose of our life on earth is to be tested. Passing the test requires moral courage, because if it were easy, the test would be meaningless. Read more
Achieving True Reverence
Filed under: Becoming More Christlike, Jesus Christ
Robert C. Oakes, who served as a member of the Seventy (a high level position in the Mormon Church) for many years recently wrote about the subject of reverence, suggesting it is not just a topic for children. Reverence is an important part of worship for all followers of Christ. Read more
Gossip
Filed under: Becoming More Christlike, Relationships
In September of 1981, Gene R. Cook wrote an article that might well have struck fear in the hearts of some readers. He wrote of a group of Mormons summoned before church leadership because they were in danger of having their church
membership taken from them? Had they robbed a bank? Broken the law of chastity? Committed apostasy? No, not at all. They had done something most of them probably considered unimportant—they had gossiped. They had participated in a nasty whisper campaign about someone they believed had been immoral. The stories were lies and the damage was widespread. Church leaders found it necessary to take this drastic step to help their members understand that gossip is not entertainment or a minor sin. A reputation had been destroyed and it would be impossible to completely undo the damage, especially since the stories had spread outside the church. Read more
Eternally Safe Choices–Undertanding Agency
Filed under: Becoming More Christlike, Discovering Yourself, Finding joy within the gospel, For the Strength of the Youth, Living the Gospel, Making Decisions, Peer Pressure, Teens & Seminary
The teen years are filled with temptation. The media, peers, even teachers and other adults can try to convince a young person that sin is okay, natural, normal, and fun. For a teenager with high standards and an eye for eternity, it can be a challenge to stay on the right path, when so many people are determined to take her off that path. Fortunately, God and His servants have outlined effective ways for teens—and adults—to stay safe.
Staying safe is a matter of choices, and to make wise choices, we have to understand the concept of agency. This article will focus on agency, and future articles in this series will walk through the process of using that understanding to make eternally safe choices. Read more
Let Us Be Men
Filed under: Becoming More Christlike, Finding Happiness, Men & Priesthood, Service
The term “real men” is a popular one to bounce around, but the definition of a real man varies from culture to culture, even in the same country. Too many people equate true manhood with being rough and tough, liking freedom, doing as he pleases, and even being immoral. The Mormons have a different idea of what true manhood means.
In 2006, D. Todd Christofferson gave a talk in General Conference, a semi-annual international conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on the subject of true manhood. He said:
“Though he will make some sacrifices and deny himself some pleasures in the course of honoring his commitments, the true man leads a rewarding life. He gives much, but he receives more, and he lives content in the approval of his Heavenly Father. The life of true manhood is the good life.” D. Todd Christofferson, “Let Us Be Men,” Ensign, Nov 2006, 46–48
Elder Christofferson told the story of his mother, who had a dangerous surgery that caused her great pain when she used her arms for quite some time afterwards. One day his father took her to a shop and asked the shopkeeper to demonstrate a new machine that ironed clothing. It utilized peddles operated by the leg, not the hands. She was shocked when he purchased it and paid cash. She was extremely worried because it was very expensive and she was concerned about how they were going to manage after having spent so much. He eventually admitted that he knew what she had tried to hide—that when ironing, she had to go into the bedroom and cry until the pain subsided, and so he had quietly gone without lunch for a year to save the money for the machine.
Elder Christofferson said that this was a true man—one who took care of his family even when it meant great sacrifice. A man makes his family and his responsibilities to God his priority in life, and everything else is secondary. This means that while his peers may be out playing, he may find himself hard at work during the day, and then come home to chores, helping his wife with her responsibilities, and playing with his children. For a real man, one who honors his role as a servant of God, this is not a hardship, even if it is sometimes tiring or frustrating.
Mormons are old-fashioned in some aspects of gender—meaning they stay with what God taught us men and women should be. The Family: A Proclamation to the World says of a man’s role:
By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.
Notice that it says men and women help each other in their duties. This means a Mormon man will often be found
washing the dishes or changing the diapers, even though it might be primarily the wife’s role. A real man isn’t embarrassed to be found doing this, nor does he feel that a long day at the office protects him from the responsibilities of the home, because he knows a mother is putting in a much longer day than he is. Parenting is a two-person job.
Men who have doubts about his role as a real man is counseled, Elder Christofferson says, to turn to the Book of Mormon for advice. When Jesus Christ visited these people, he asked
Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am (3 Nephi 27:27). This scripture tells us that a man who wants to understand his role in life should look at the Savior to see what sort of man He was. We know from many stories told us in the Bible that Jesus Christ was very respectful of women. He included many women among His friends and followers. He respected their ability to learn and He taught them individually. He didn’t save all the learning for the men, as we see in the story of Mary and Martha. This example shows us that a man should respect his wife’s intelligence and treat her as an important person, his equal, just as Jesus treated the women in his world as equals.
Jesus refused to allow his apostles to send children away who had come to see Him. Even though he’d worked a very long day and was tired, he put aside his need for rest and spent meaningful time with children, teaching them and building a relationship with them. His example tells fathers and other men what their attitude toward children should be. Although Jesus did not have children of His own, He demonstrated that a man’s children should be a priority, no matter how busy or tired they might be. He also demonstrated the responsibility to teach children the gospel.
Throughout the scriptures, Jesus is shown to be kind and gentle, not afraid to cry or to show compassion. At the same time, he had the courage to stand for the right against everyone, regardless of the cost to himself. He stood up for the downtrodden and those rejected by the world. He served those who were good and those who were “bad.” He defended the gospel without hesitation and refused to water it down to be politically correct or in tune with the times.
Elder Christofferson’s title comes from a Book of Mormon scripture that says, in part, “arise from the dust, my sons, and be men (2 Nephi 2:21).” To learn more about what it means to be a Mormon man, read the entire talk at LDS.org or watch the video below.
Stendahl’s Three Rules of Religious Understanding
Filed under: Becoming More Christlike, Uncategorized
The Mormons have a new video explaining why Mormons build temples. This clip includes the late Krister Stendahl, a former Lutheran Bishop of Stockholm and Dean of Harvard Divinity School, speaking about Mormon temples. Stendahl was never a Mormon, but is often remembered for a speech he gave defending Mormons.
According to FAIRLDS, controversy built up around the Mormons’ desire to build a temple in Stockholm, Sweden in 1985. Stendahl contacted Truman G. Madsen and offered to hold a press conference in a Mormon church building endorsing the building of the temple and also suggesting the appropriate way to treat religions other than your own.
In this speech, he outlined three rules, now called, “Stendahl’s three rules of religious understanding. These are good rules for anyone to follow, regardless of their faith.
The first rule is that if you want to know about a religion, you should ask the faithful members, and not the enemies. Anyone who follows partisan politics knows that those who feel so strongly about something sometimes think it’s okay to lie as long as it helps you “win.” If someone is trying to learn about you, it’s likely you’d rather they ask you personally, rather than rounding up your enemies for a hearty bashing session. When Jesus was living on the earth, he taught that we should treat others as we want others to treat us, which makes responsible fact-gathering a Christian responsibility. When learning about another religion, stop to think how you want people to learn about your own religion. Go to the source.
The second rule is to not compare your best to their worst. This is a very basic principle of fairness. Imagine, for instance, a person were to say, “Well, I know this church is bad because last week, the newspaper had a story about someone from that church who got arrested. In the very same paper, there was a story about a person from my church who works for the poor.” While that’s a rather stark example, it does make a clear point. It’s very likely both churches have people who get arrested and people who serve the poor. To selectively point out the worst person, and compare that person to another congregation’s best is hardly a balanced way to evaluate a faith. A fairer way to do this is to look at Congregation A’s work with the poor and compare it to Congregation B’s work for the poor. Of course, poverty relief is only one aspect of Christianity, but we have to compare things on an equal basis-as the old saying goes, don’t compare apples with oranges.
The third rule is to leave room for “holy envy.” Stendahl suggests it’s perfectly okay to admire something in a church you don’t actually want to join. Every church has it’s good and it’s not necessary to trample it just to make your own church look better. It’s even okay to admit that another church does one particular thing better than yours, or maybe just differently than yours but in a way you like. Stendahl was able to picture himself going through the temple ceremonies, even though he didn’t want to become a Mormon. He didn’t have to think we had it all right to admire that aspect of the Mormon faith. He wasn’t threatened by the fact that we had something he personally admired.
These rules reflect basic Christian principles, but they also demonstrate Stendahl’s comfort in his own religion. His testimony of his Lutheran faith was strong enough that he didn’t need to trample another religion in order to feel okay about his own, nor did he feel the need to eliminate or blockade another religion to keep his safe.
If you are sure your own faith is true, you won’t be worried about what other religions are doing. You’ll be too busy sharing the wonders of your own faith to devote your life to trampling the beliefs of others.
While we might not agree with everything Stendahl did in his religious life, we can find wisdom in these three rules that are right for any religion.
Watch the video on why Mormons build temples.