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.