Monday, June 18, 2012

Lesson Three: Finding Principles

"In our uncertain physical environment, we need to increase our spiritual nutrients--nutrients that come from the knowledge of the fullness of the gospel and the powers of the holy priesthood. When such knowledge penetrates our souls, we not only draw closer to God but we also want to serve Him and our fellowmen."
~James E. Faust
"Spiritual Nutrients", Ensign, November 2006, 54

1 Corinthians 4: 12
Endure all things for Christ's sake patiently.

 1 Corinthians 4: 17
Remember the ways of Christ.  

1 Corinthians 6: 19-20
Respecting my body shows my respect and love for my Savior. 

Endure to the End and Respect Shows Love.
Endure all things for Christ's sake patiently. 1 Corinthians 4:12
When I came across this scripture, it really helped me to see that through whatever comes our way we need to stand a solid ground. I love how in this verse the apostles were saying how they labor and make self-sacrifices for the sake of serving the Lord. They are willing to sacrifice their time, possessions, whatever is necessary. They know that when they are honest and faithful to the Lord, always enduring and never giving up, they are blessed. It then goes on to say how even though they are persecuted against and hated, they "suffer it." Using the footnotes, suffer here also means to "endure patiently". That really left my rather awe-stricken. Here these men are, being reviled against in all sorts of manner, and their faith never wonders; nor do they complain. Instead, they "endure patiently." I love that. I have heard prophets and apostles (specifically President Hinckley) say that life is not to just be endured by enjoyed--and there is great wisdom in that--but I have never heard the phrase to endure patiently. When trials and hardships come, we need to learn to not just endure them, but do so with patience. This to me means to me that you have a calm sense of understanding and meekness about you. Not that you may understand your trial, but that you understand it is for your own growth. You remember and understand that all things we experience are for our own good. (D&C 122:7)
~249

Respecting my body shows my respect and love for my Savior. 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20
As I was reading this section of scripture, it brought a sense of reverence to my heart. I know that my body is a temple to my own spirit, but I love how it says here that my "body is the temple of the the Holy Ghost which is in you". We must live worthy to have the Holy Ghost abide with us, that entails keeping our bodies pure and clean. For our body is a temple and no unclean thing will dwell inside a temple. (D&C 94:8) Moreover, as it says in verse 20, we are not our own. Our bodies were bought with a price, the ultimate price--the atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We thus show our respect and love for our Savior by respecting our bodies. Our bodies are a gift. We should treasure that gift and keep it pure so that we may always have the Holy Ghost as our constant companion.
~160
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Principles and Insights from Classmates
"Charity and Hard work. 1Cor. 13:7; Galatians 6
(Charity) Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. This is a very great verse and to be able to receive all of these blessings would be great and a benefit to our progression. It is also great to know that charity is tied into so many things. As we look at chapter 13 which is all about charity we can see a many things that we can do to have charity and receive these blessings. The first thing that we can do to have charity is to have patience. I think that this is one attribute that is not shown as often as it should. We live in a time where we expect things right now, we are the now generation and to have little patience.  Is a thing we all could work on a little more.  I think that if we can start to have a little more patience then we are going to have more and more charity.

(Hard work) I really enjoyed chapter 6 in Galatians it talked about work and how we reap what we sew.  This has always been a very important principle throughout my life. I had to opportunity to grow up in a home where I had to work for the things that I wanted and needed. So at a younger age I started to realize the responsibility of work and the joy that was brought from it. I also had great examples of work my Grandpa is now 80 years old and can still work like a 25 year old and as a result he is very healthy, the same is with my father he is always working on something.  This principle is so great because it we can apply it day to day, and also in the gospel. As we work hard in the gospel and have a strong testimony and strong desire to do right we are going to be blessed with blessings from our Father in Heaven.

+My Response:
I am glad you chose to report one of your principles on charity. Charity is the pure love of Christ. We would be wise if we could all live a little more charitable in our daily lives. Hope is good, faith is good...but charity, charity surpasses them both. Charity is "great." (1 Cor 13:13)  I love how in verse 2 Paul says that he has faith to move mountains and understand all mysteries, but that, that is nothing if he has not charity. That really emphasizes the importance of charity. I agree with you that one way to further our own charity is to learn to be more patience. We need to be slower to anger and quicker to forgive. We need to see that we love all mankind. We need to be charitable. We need to be, show and live the "pure love of Christ".

"Benevolence and Spiritual Gifts
Treat your spouse with kindness, compassion, generosity, and goodwill. 1 Cor 7:3
Treating your spouse with kindness is one of the most important things that I remember reading about. To expound on this I would like to report on the benevolence of my husband. As you know, I have a three month old. Before she was born I was put on bed rest the last month and a half of my pregnancy because I was experiencing pre-term labor. During that time of trial, my husband Marcus served me thoroughly. He made breakfast, lunch, and dinner for me. He went grocery shopping alone, he came home from school early to spend time with me, and he always answered his phone. I got pretty lonely at home all alone, and he knew that so he made extra effort to make me feel special. He has shown the most kindness and compassion for me during that time. I think that it is important to show this kind of benevolence, as it reads in the scriptures, to strengthen the relationship between husband and wife; the most important relationship outside of the relationship you have with God.

Study and obtain the Spiritual gifts. 1 Cor 12:1
While I was reading this section of scripture I was thinking that it was a commandment for the apostles (saints) to try their best to receive and develop all the spiritual gifts. We are given certain gifts such as the gift of tongues, the gift of prophesy, the gift to believe on other people’s words, the gift of testimony, the gift of healing, the gift of interpretation of tongues. Our ultimate goal is to become like Christ who has ALL these gifts. In order to become like him it is our duty and responsibility to try our best to develop as many spiritual gifts as we can. Even though we all have some of these gifts, it is our job to develop them and magnify these in as much as we are capable. And with the development of these gifts we must then use them for the spreading of the gospel."

+My Response:
Your first princinple really touches my heart. Perhaps because we are so closely experiencing the same things right now as we are both raising our new little babies. How tender your husband is. Thank you for sharing. My husband is the same way...I know that I need to work on returning that same "kindness, compassion, generosity, and goodwill" towards him. He is continuously so good to me--even in just small ways. But it is those small daily things that I notice and it makes my love and appreciation for him grow all the more. 



  



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