Lying to Yourself

I'd just like to start by saying that everything I'm gonna say is based purely off of personal experience, this may or may not be helpful to you.

I think we all have at some point or another really struggled to overcome a bad habit, or possibly even an addiction. It may be a rather trivial character flaw or something quite serious, regardless of what it is the process which we go through to change is much the same and it's one where we learn a lot about ourselves. I'd like to just share with you something I've learned.

For a lot of people, one of the hardest things to do is to admit to others that they need help. But although this is hard for me, there is something much harder. For me the hardest thing to do is to be honest with myself. I truly struggle to admit to myself that I need help. Let me explain what I mean.

I do of course recognize that I have flaws that I should work on fixing. But the tendency is to think that if I am not in the moment struggling with a particular flaw, then I should just pretend it doesn't exist and try to avoid thinking about it.

Because of this the following pattern exists in my life, and possibly in yours.
1. I will be living my normal life.
2. Situation arises that exposes a particular flaw in my character
3. I am ashamed of myself, possibly feel guilty and wish I was a different person.
4. The feelings fade and I go on trying to pretend it never happened and never will again.
This pattern happens over and over again with stuff like losing my temper to more important things. The problem is that once step 4 is finished step 1 commences and each time step 3 feels worse and I start wondering if I will ever succeed in overcoming my flaws.

If you've made it this far and this doesn't sound like something you have a problem with you can skip reading the rest, but if you are like me than here's what I have found has helped me.

"...the truth will set you free" John 8:32

This quote has helped me enormously to begin changing who I am. To change who you are, you have to face who you are. You have to face the truth, and be honest to yourself. You can't lie to yourself and pretend you don't have a problem that you do have. You will never overcome your greatest flaws by closing your eyes to them or avoiding situations that expose them.
You can't send little kids to their rooms and expect them to be quiet for more than 10 minutes, so why do we think we can do that to our inner demons? You have to evict them (the inner demons not the little kids).
How do you get rid of your flaws? Idk, I'm not you. But for me, one of the most important steps was realizing that I would have to face my flaws head on and actively work on getting rid of them.

Christ's Question

So recently I've been doing a study on every question that Christ asked in the New Testament, and it's been very interesting and thought provoking and I'd like to share a thought with you.

Christ asked a lot of questions, most however were not the questions of a man seeking information but rather the questions of a teacher trying to instruct. In fact many would argue that Christ never had a need to ask for information because he could discern all through the spirit. Whether or not this is true pertaining to mundane aspects of life is uncertain but it is clearly shown that Christ was taught by God through the spirit on spiritual matters.

From this line of thought I deduced that although he probably knew the answer to his questions before he even asked when speaking to man, when speaking to God the questions Christ asked were probably ones that he did not, at the time, know the answer to.

In searching for questions directed towards God, I found only one. Most people immediately think of Christ's petition for the cup to be removed, however, as recorded that was a statement, not a question. The only question I found was in Matthew 27:46. When on the cross, the companionship of the Holy Spirit withdrew, and Christ was left truly alone. At that time he cried out,

"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

Now it is not my intention to interpret this portion of scripture for you, but rather to suggest that to this question it may be that Christ did not know the answer at this time. 

For me personally as I have considered this possibility it has given me greater appreciation for everything that Christ went through as he did his utmost to show his love for his Father and for you and me. It is my hope that we can all take more time to consider his atonement and take even more time to apply it in our lives. 

Spiderman's Favorite Scripture

The new Peter Parker hasn't quite managed to get his lines right, but for those who are fans of the friendly neighborhood Spiderman love the iconic quote "with great power comes great responsibility." There is profound truth in this statement, so it shouldn't be overly surprising that this principle is actually stated in the scriptures.

D&C 82:3 "For of him unto whom much is given much is required"

In the movies and comics it's pretty obvious that Peter interprets his Uncles words to mean that he has great responsibility because of his spidey powers. But what about us? What have we been given? And what is required of us?

What have we been given?

The easy answer to this question is to say, "well God has given us everything." Although true, that answer is lacking in useful details. The problem with just thanking God for "everything" is that you really aren't thanking him for anything. If you cannot notice what everything you have actually is, you can't actually be thankful for it. Try making a list of everything you have ever recieved from God. If you open our mind you'll soon realize that the list will never end, but as you work on it you will also begin to notice that your gratitude increases because instead of being grateful for a generic "everything" you'll be grateful for a more specific "everything"

What is required?

Sometimes it's really hard to know what it is that the Lord wants from you, but I'm a believer that God gives you the tools needed to get the job done. He won't give you hammer to cut a board and he won't give you a chisel to perform brain surgery. In other words, your gifts from God will tend to line up with your duties to God. Perhaps you have a gift for listening, my guess would be that your duty to God is to give comfort to those who are troubled. I'm confident that one of the best ways to see what direction you should take in your life is to take a look at your talents and gifts and then consider with what purpose in mind did God give these to you.

As a final note, sometimes we are guilty of resenting requirements and the expectations of others. If this is your viewpoint towards God's expectations and requirements you will likely live unhappy and you will certainly experience the old adage "use it or lose it." But on the other hand if we soften our hearts, you will find that your "duties" to God will actually bring you greater happiness than anything else. Why? because you will be using a combination of your greatest skills to do the greatest good.

Tip for Happiness

Tip for Happiness:

I've been trying something new these past few weeks. You see I spend a lot of time waiting for busses, or walking to and from places. And generally while doing that I'm wishing I was somewhere else and with that I could be with people. But these last few weeks I've plugged in my headphones and danced. I dance at the bus stop, and I'll sometimes (especially at night) dance down the street. I may not be going full out but it's certainly enough to get some weird looks and a few laughs. But it's ok!

For me dancing is my passion and when I listen to music it's something I feel a drive to do! Now here's the really fun cool thing, since I've started doing this somethings changed. Instead of waiting or walking and wishing I was elsewhere and with someone, I enjoy where I am and I wish people were with me to enjoy it too!

Now I know some of you guys don't like dancing, but that's not what I'm suggesting. What I did is that when I found myself not wanting to be where I was, I changed things so that I did want to be there. If you put something you love into something you dislike or hate, you'll find that pretty soon you love everything about your life.

Try it, let me know how it goes!

Taking the Gospel with a Grain of Salt

One of the best ways to avoid falling into erroneous actions and beliefs is the practice of taking what you hear with a grain of salt. In other words, having a healthy skepticism for what you read and what others tell you.

All of us can think of at least one time where we took someone for their word and got sucked into doing something or believing something that wasn't true. Perhaps you listened to a silver-tongued salesman, or maybe you jumped on a political bandwagon only to learn the full story later on. The fact of the matter is that as humans we are often more emotional than we are logical and most of us have the tendency to believe that others are being honest with us. The problem with this is that even if I am perfectly honest with you, it doesn't mean that what I say is true, it just means that I believe it to be so. 

Because of this it's a good idea to withhold a full acceptance of what is being said until you go and confirm for yourself the truth. In some cases a complete confirmation isn't possible, but in almost every case you can find supplemental sources to give different viewpoints.

So what does this have to do with the Gospel? Do I dare suggest that it may be important to have a healthy skepticism towards the Gospel? Yes, yes I do. Why? Because in the scriptures there are some mistakes and the Apostles and Prophets make mistakes as well, and Stake Presidents, Bishops, Sunday School teachers, and Seminary teachers most definitely make mistakes. 

Moroni once stated that there were possibly mistakes in the Book of Mormon, he said "And if there be faults they be the faults of a man. But behold we know no fault; nevertheless God knoweth all things;" Mormon 8:17. Notice that as far as Moroni was aware, the Book of Mormon was without fault, but he acknowledged that there was a possibility of fault. In admitting this he also provided how we may learn to distinguish the truth from the faults of man. He said "God knoweth all things." It is our responsibility to take what we have learned to the Lord before fulling accepting new teachings. If we simply accept what we are told in General Conference to be the truth because it is General Conference then we will likely accept whatever the internet says because it is the internet. 

I am not saying that we should disbelieve the Prophet and Apostles, or any teachers in the church. I am trying to say that we are each responsible to verify their teachings through our own study and prayer so that we may receive a witness from the Lord of it's truthfulness. "Ask and you shall recieve."

To conclude I wish to clarify what I define to be the difference between healthy skepticism and unhealthy skepticism. A healthy skepticism is one that encourages you to consider the implications of a new teaching, to ponder upon it and to seek a confirmation through study and faith. An unhealthy skepticism drives you to reject and doubt teachings. It urges you to condemn it as worthless. Please do not do this. Do not doubt what you believe, rather seek to confirm what you believe, that is how you turn faith and belief into pure knowledge. (see Alma 32)