Us

Us

Sunday, November 9, 2008

A Piece of Humble Pie


Today in church I decided to go to the Gospel Essentials class since Adam had left for home because he wasn't feeling well. We normally go to the regular Gospel Doctrine class but I didn't want to sit in their all by myself so I thought it would be nice to go to a smaller class. Most of the people in that class are newly baptized or becoming active again so we go over the basics (just like on the mission:). Today's lesson was on Jesus Christ. We began by discussing the pre-mortal existence and what Christ's role was during that time. As well know, he chose to follow God's plan and Satan decided to follow his own plan. The teacher then talked about how the 1/3 that followed Satan were thrown out of heaven and not allowed to have a body while the rest of us came down to earth and received a body. This is where my humble pie began.
After she said this, a strong and clear thought came to my mind. The 1/3 did not receive a body but it wasn't really because Heavenly Father wanted to be mean and punish them. (Here comes the gist of my thought) They didn't have a body because they didn't want one and basically told Heavenly Father, "No thanks. I don't need one of those." After expressing this thought a few other thoughts came to me. Many times when the Lord is wanting to bless me I, in affect, say, "No thanks. I don't need one of those." I can get so prideful at times and think that I can do it all by myself. This has become especially clear after my mom died. As I look back I know that Heavenly Father was there with blessing ready for me but I chose not to accept them because I was determined to do it all by myself. Looking at my thinking pattern I feel kind of embaressed but grateful at the same time. I'm realizing more and more that I don't have to do everything alone. I need to depend on the Lord and realize that He has much in store to help me with. While it's important to do all that we can, it doesn't mean that we will be able to do everything. I know that I will be reminded of the lesson I am learning for years to come but I'm so grateful that He lets me learn it, repent and become a better person.
Another thing: I went with Adam to home teach and he shared a quote from Elder Wirthlin's talk this past conference that helped lift my spirits. The topic of his talk was "Come what may and love it." He outlined steps that we needed to learn to deal successfully with life's challenges and I especially hooked into the third step. He said,
"The third thing we can do is understand the principle of compensation. The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude."
There's some of what I learned today. The gospel is true and there is still so much to learn!

2 comments:

Our Loved-up Family said...

Hey, this is Sarah, Paula's friend (and neighbor)! I enjoyed the thought that you shared, it's a good reminder:)

Candace said...

Thanks for sharing, Jamie. I really liked that quote. It definitely puts things into perspective, and makes our trials a little more bearable.