Own Your Own Conversion

 The truth is that you must own your own conversion. No one else can do it for you. 

May I invite you to consider a few questions? Do you want to feel peace about concerns that presently plague you? Do you want to feel know Jesus Christ better? Do you want to learn how His divine power can heal your wounds and weaknesses? Do you want to experience the sweet, soothing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ working in your life?

If your answer to these four questions is "yes," that is evidence that you want to have a strong testimony of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth. Don't pollute it with the false philosophies of unbelieving men and women and then wonder why your testimony is waning.

Engage in daily, earnest, humble prayer. Nourish yourself in the words of ancient and modern prophets. Ask the Lord to teach you how to hear Him better. Spend more time in the temple and in family history work. 

As you make your testimony your highest priority, watch for miracles to happen in your life. 

If you have questions about the gospel and about your life--and I hope you do--seek answers with the fervent desire to believe. Learn all you can about the gospel by turning to truth-filled sources for guidance. We live in the dispensation when "nothing shall be withheld." Thus, in time, the Lord will answer all of your questions.

In the meantime, immerse yourself in the rich reservoir of revelation we have at our fingertips. I promise that doing so will strengthen your testimony, even if some of your questions are not yet answered. Your sincere questions, asked in faith, will always lead to greater faith and more knowledge.

-President Russell M. Nelson, Heart of the Matter, 2023, p. 52-53

President Nelson on Labels and Identity

Who are you?

First and foremost, you are a child of God.

Second, if you are a member of the Church, you are a child of the covenant. When you were baptized, you made very specific covenants with the Lord. You promised to bear others' burdens, mourn with those that mourn, comfort those in need of comfort, and "stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things."

And third, you are a disciple of Jesus Christ.

I plead with you not to replace these three paramount and unchanging identifiers with any others, because doing so could stymie your progress or pigeonhole you into a stereotype that could potentially thwart your eternal progression.

For example, if you are identified mainly as an American, those who are not Americans may thing, "I know everything there is to know about you because you are an American." Because of this erroneous assumption, they may assign erroneous attributes to you. 

If you identify yourself by your political affiliation, you will instantly be categorized as having certain beliefs--though I don't know anyone who believes everything that their preferred political party presently embraces.

I could go on and on, rehearsing the constraints of various labels that we put on ourselves or that other people place upon us.

Some might label me as an "old man." But I'm a lot younger than Adam was--and Noah too. Ageism, racism, nationalism, sexism, and a host of other "isms" are universally limiting and are to be avoided.

...

The adversary rejoices in labels because they divide us and restrict the way we think about ourselves and each other. Labels can divide us into the kinds of tribes that divided the Nephites prior to the Lord's first coming. Tribal divisions almost always lead to animosity, misunderstanding, and even tribal warfare. How limiting it is when we essentially "choose up sides." How sad it is when we honor labels more than we honor each other.

Labels almost inevitable lead to judging and animosity. Any abuse or prejudice toward another because of nationality, race, sexual orientation, gender, educational degrees, culture, or any other significant identifiers is offensive to our Maker! Such mistreatment causes us to live beneath our stature as His covenant sons and daughters!

There are various labels that may be very important to you, of course. Please do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that other designations and identifiers are not important. I am simply saying that no identifier should displace, replace, or take priority over the three paramount, enduring designations, "child of God, "child of the covenant," and "disciple of Jesus Christ."

Any identifier that is not compatible with these three basic designations will ultimately let you down. No other labels have the power to lead you toward eternal life in the celestial kingdom of God.

-President Russell M. Nelson, Heart of the Matter, 2023, p. 48-49.

Nevertheless I went forth.

 The last couple of weeks I have lost a lot of sleep over an immigration case in which a mistake had been made that put us in a situation where I didn't see a path forward for the client, who happens also to be a church member. I prayed and fasted about it and nothing came. Court was a few days away and I felt I had nothing good to tell them. I finally set up an appointment to talk to them and convince them to plan for removal, and in the morning I started listening to the Book of Mormon audiobook on the new app, since I set a goal to read the Book of Mormon between now and the end of the year now that I finished reading D&C. 

One of my favorite verses hit me again in the context of my current situation. "And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do. Nevertheless I went forth..."

I didn't know what to do. And maybe in the end I could do nothing except be with this client through this trial and "comfort those that stand in need of comfort." But I could take the next step I could think of and go forward.

And I met with the clients and gave them the news, and it was so upsetting to the mother that she finally shared some terrible things that had happened that she hadn't told anyone before. And those things gave me the basis for an asylum application that would not be frivolous and that could at least give the client more time if not eventually gain his residency.

So today I've got to put together an entire asylum application package. I'm not sure how I'll get it done.

Nevertheless, I'll go forth.

Preparing the Sacrament

I helped Ethan prepare this talk for Sacrament meeting today, and he did a wonderful job giving it and got many, many compliments both on his delivery and on the content. I hope I can remember these things that we learned together every week when I see those boys preparing the sacrament.

Ethan's Talk:

Hello Brothers and Sisters, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Ethan Kenworthy. The topic I was given today was: “How our service in preparing the sacrament helps all of us cherish the gift of repentance and forgiveness by turning to Christ through this sacred ordinance”

A lot of times, preparing the sacrament is just something that is part of my Sunday routine. It’s my duty, and so I do it, and it doesn’t always feel like a big act of service. But receiving this topic gave me a good opportunity to really reflect on what it means for our ward when the teachers prepare the sacrament.

Doctrine and Covenants 59:9-10 says, “For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and pay thy devotions unto the most high.”

In his talk titled “Sacrament Meeting and the Sacrament,” Elder Oaks said:

“This is a commandment with a promise. By participating weekly and appropriately in the ordinance of the sacrament we qualify for the promise that we will ‘always have his spirit to be with us.’ That Spirit is the foundation of our testimony. It testifies of the father and the son, brings all things unto our remembrance, and leads us into truth. This gift of the Holy Ghost, President Wilford Woodruff taught, ‘is the greatest gift that can be bestowed upon man.’”

President Oaks continues:

The ordinance of the sacrament makes the sacrament meeting the most sacred and important meeting in the Church. It is the only Sabbath meeting the entire family can attend together. Its content in addition to the sacrament should always be planned and presented to focus our attention on the Atonement and the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

That quote made me ask myself how preparing the sacrament each week could point all of us to the Savior. To start, the symbols of the sacrament and how we prepare them are all designed to remind us of Christ’s Atonement. 

The very first thing we do when we arrive is to wash our hands. We do this in order to be clean before we handle the sacrament. In a similar way, every one of us is supposed to come to the sacrament with “clean hands and a pure heart.” (Psalm 24:3-4) We are able to become clean from our sins when we repent, and then we can renew our baptismal covenant by taking the sacrament.

The next thing we do is to prepare the bread and water. We know that the bread symbolizes the body of Jesus Christ, which He sacrificed for us. The water symbolizes Jesus’ blood, which He shed for us in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. In a 2017 General Conference talk, Elder D. Todd Christofferson said, “The bread and water represent the flesh and blood of Him who is the Bread of Life and the Living Water, poignantly reminding us of the price He paid to redeem us. As the bread is broken, we remember the Savior’s torn flesh. As we drink the water, we think of the blood He shed in Gethsemane and on the cross and its sanctifying power.” 

During the sacrament, we pass the sacrament tray to each other down the rows. We serve each other when we pass the trays down the rows, and we all need each other as we partake of the sacrament. Jesus Christ set the example for us by serving everyone he could, like how we serve each other in this way. In the scriptures, we are told to obtain a remission of our sins we need to love, serve, and forgive each other.

We cover the trays with a cloth, which represents Jesus’ body, just as He was covered with a cloth in the tomb. It reminds us of how Jesus died for all of us so we could be forgiven of our sins. He was then resurrected and the cloth was removed, just like we take off the cloth during the sacrament. This reminds us of Jesus’ resurrection, and that we can also be born again and have new life through His atonement.

In short, every part of the sacrament is about Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God. He came here to pay for our sins. In order to do that He had to live a perfect life. In Elder Christofferson's talk, he said: “As we partake of the sacramental bread and water each week, we would do well to consider how fully and completely we must incorporate His character and the pattern of His sinless life into our life and being. Jesus could not have atoned for the sins of others unless He Himself was sinless.” Taking the sacrament each week can give us power to overcome our sins and become more like Jesus Christ.

In Luke 22: 14-20, it says:

“And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:  … And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.”

This shows how Jesus Himself was the first one to institute the sacrament and told his disciples: “This do in remembrance of me.” So since the beginning of the sacrament the purpose was to help us remember and cherish Jesus Christ’s Atonement. When we prepare and partake of the sacrament every week, we are following his example. 

I’m thankful for the ability that we have to repent and renew our covenants every week with the sacrament. I know that the sacrament can help us feel closer to Jesus.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Hope, Politics, and the Last Days

 I read this article last night, "Can Religion be a Healing Force in Society?" by Peter Wehner, Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in DC, and it is just so, so good.

https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=3&article=1069&context=clarkmemorandum&type=additional

It coincided with a lot of thoughts I have had in the last couple of years regarding hope, the Gospel, and how we interact with the world in politics and everyday life in these last days. In our current ward especially, there seems to be a lot of emphasis on how bad the world around us is, how everything is getting worse, and how we need to prepare for terrible things ahead. And I realize that wickedness is increasing in many ways and that many have lost a clear sense of morality, but I also feel that this focus centers us on half the picture. Why is wickedness increasing in the world? Because light is increasing! There is more light in the world now than there ever was previously! We have an ongoing Restoration where we are growing in light and knowledge and truth and will keep doing so until we come to the measure of the fulness of Christ and His coming. So much wickedness and evil and suffering has been defeated worldwide. In the US, prosperity has grown and so has agency as the horrible injustices and inequalities of the past have been confronted and steps taken to rectify them. 

I think that part of this focus problem is that we neglect the essential role of hope in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Hope means that we look forward to a better world, not hunker down and wait for a worse one. And when we hope for that world, we take action and work for it. I love that Wehner said:

"Followers of Jesus need to light candles instead of simply curse the darkness..." 

I have read that line a dozen times and it still bears repeating. I should embroider it and put it on my wall. I want to be a candle-lighter!

He then goes on to describe how we can use our faith to strengthen and heal society instead of condemning it or fighting over it. I won't restate the whole address but I highly recommend it.

Talk: Buscando el Perdon del Senor

I gave this talk in the Spanish group, and so wrote it in Spanish. With the wonders of Google Translate, I won't worry about creating an English version and will just leave this here with my other talks.

Hoy se me ha pedido hablar en cuanto al tema, “Buscando el perdón del Señor.” Inmediatamente me gustó este tema porque, mientras refiere a las cosas que necesitamos hacer para buscar el perdón, se enfoca más en el Señor y cómo Él otorga el perdón. Muchas veces en la iglesia hablamos del arrepentimiento cómo un proceso que nos gana el perdón y la salvación. Repasamos los pasos del arrepentimiento como una lista de verificación: 1. Reconocer que hemos pecado y confesarlo. Cheque. 2. Pedir perdón a dios. Cheque. 3. Pedir perdón a las personas a quienes hayamos lastimado. Cheque. 4. Hacer lo posible para reparar y sanar la herida. Cheque. La escritura que se me asignó hoy, que se encuentra el Doctrina y Convenios 58:42-43, también describe cómo arrepentirse:

He aquí. quien se ha arrepentido de sus pecados es perdonado; y yo, el señor, no los recuerdo más. 

Por esto podréis saber si un hombre se arrepiente de sus pecados: He aquí, los confesará y los abandonará.

Doctrina y Convenios 58:42-43

Esta escritura da un esquema similar de lo que mencioné antes de cómo arrepentirse: Hay que confesar el pecado y abandonar el pecado. Me parece sencillo, pero al tratar de hacerlo sola por mi misma, cada vez descubro que no lo puedo hacer. Tal vez ustedes han sentido la misma frustración que siento a menudo: a pesar de mis buenas intenciones, día tras día sigo cometiendo los mismos errores y cayendo en las mismas tentaciones que he tratado de dejar. Me enojo con mis hijos sin justificación, juzgo a otros cuando no actúan de acuerdo con mis preferencias, malgasto el tiempo, etcétera, y mis esfuerzos para mejorarme sólo me parecen dar frutos microscópicos. Si tengo que abandonar todos mis pecados para cumplir con los requisitos del arrepentimiento y así ganarme el perdón, nunca lo lograré, y no hay esperanza para mi.

Para darles un ejemplo sencillo, varias veces cuando he estado en el templo he sentido la voz del espíritu decirme que necesito cuidar mejor a mi cuerpo y dormir más de lo que históricamente he hecho. Ya son años que estoy recibiendo esta dirección de dios, y no lo he seguido bien mas de unos dias. Sé lo que debo hacer, pero no lo hago. ¿Hay perdón para mi en este caso, cuando no he abandonado el pecado?

Estos pasos no son malos; realmente son buenos para guiarnos a traves del proceso del arrepentimiento. Pero lo más importante es recordar qu en realidad el perdón no es algo que podemos ganar a través de estos pasos o las buenas obras. El perdón es un don de Dios, que se nos da por medio de la expiación de Jesucristo. Sin este acto de amor y sacrificio, no hay cosa alguna que pudiéramos hacer para ganar el perdón, porque al momento de pecar, hubiéramos perdido la salvación por toda la eternidad. Sí es importante que ponemos el esfuerzo para arrepentirnos y mejorarnos, pero el propósito de este proceso no es perfeccionarnos antes de recibir el perdón, sino que es de reorientarnos hacia el Señor para poder recibir su gracia y el don del perdón que se hace posible por medio de su sacrificio expiatorio. Esta gracia también nos esfuerza para tratar otra vez y seguir adelante cuando desfallezcamos. Voy a leer parte de la escritura antedicha otra vez, pero esta vez quiero enfocarme en lo que nos enseña acerca del carácter de Dios.

He aquí. Quien se ha arrepentido de sus pecados es perdonado; y yo, el señor, no los recuerdo más. 

¡Esto me dice que el Señor no está buscando oportunidades de condenarme! No quiere que me esconda con vergüenza cuando haya pecado. Es un padre perfecto que quiere perdonarnos libremente y olvidarse completamente de nuestros pecados. Nos ama tanto que dio a su Hijo Unigénito para hacer posible este don, y no creo que lo hizo para que unos pocos de sus hijos escogidos volvieran a Él. Creo que Él quiere que todos sus hijos sepan de su amor y reciban este don, y asi es algo que todos podemos lograr si tratamos de hacerlo.

El Profeta y presidente anterior de la Iglesia, Gordon B. HInckley, dijo

La gran Expiación fue el acto supremo del perdón. La magnitud de esa Expiación trasciende nuestra capacidad de entender completamente. Lo único que sé es que en verdad aconteció y que fue tanto para mi provecho como para el de ustedes. El sufrimiento fue tan profundo y la agonía tan intensa que nadie puede llegar a comprender que el Salvador se hubiera ofrecido como rescate por los pecados de toda la humanidad.

Por medio de Él obtenemos el perdón. Mediante Él recibimos la promesa cierta de que a todos se nos concederán las bendiciones de la salvación y de la resurrección de los muertos. Por medio de Él y de Su extraordinario y supremo sacrificio, se nos brinda la oportunidad, si es que somos obedientes, de la exaltación y la vida eterna. 

Entonces, no podemos arrepentirnos sin Jesucristo. No podemos recibir el perdón sin Jesucristo. Así que, si queremos buscar el perdón del Señor, tenemos que buscar a Jesucristo. Teniendo esto en la mente, al estudiar las escrituras en cuánto al perdón, podemos entender los consejos no como demandas que Dios nos pone para lograr el perdón; en cambio, podemos verlos como una guía que podemos seguir para buscar a Cristo y re-fijar nuestra mirada hacia Él cuando hayamos desfallecido y nos hayamos extraviado de la senda estrecha.

El buscar a Cristo requiere que aprendamos quien es Él. Y las mejores maneras de conocer a Cristo son de comunicarse con Él a través de la oración y aprender de Él por medio de las escrituras, las cuales proveen una historia de cómo ha guiado a su pueblo trás la historia. 

En el Nuevo Testament, Jesús afirme que tiene el poder de sanarnos. Dice:

El Hijo del Hombre tiene potestad para perdonar pecados,

¿Y cómo aplica Él este poder con nosotros? En el libro de Números, Lo describe asi:

Jehová, que es tardo para la ira y grande en misericordia, que perdona la iniquidad y la transgresión.

Esto me indica cuán liberal es el Señor en perdonarnos. Tal vez el ejemplo más poderoso de su capacidad de perdonar se ve cuando Jesús estaba colgado en la cruz, y aún entre el sufrimiento extremo, pidió perdón por los que le estaba torturando y matando, porque no entendían lo que hacían.

Éste es un Dios a quien me puedo acercar. Es un Dios misericordioso. Es un Dios a quien puedo pedir sin temor si mi corazón está sincera. 

Teniendo en mente este conocimiento de quien es el Señor, voy a volver a los consejos que nos ha dado en las escrituras en cuanto a cómo recibir el don del perdón.

Ya dijimos que debemos hacer lo que podemos para dejar nuestros pecados al confesarlos, pedir perdón, y abandonarlos. Cada vez que pecamos, podemos pedir de nuevo, sin temer que el Señor se va a cansar de nuestras pedidas. En el Libro de Mormón, en el Libro de Mosias, el Señor dice al Rey Benjamin:

Sí, y cuántas veces mi pueblo se arrepienta, le perdonaré sus transgresiones contra mí.

Además, al trabajar en la obra del Señor, nos ayuda a mantener el perdón porque nos ayuda a mantenernos cerca a Jesucristo. Primeramente, al hacer y guardar convenios con el Señor, él nos perdona los pecados.  En el libro de Hechos, 2:38, Pedro dice al pueblo:

Arrepentíos y bautícese cada uno de vosotros en el nombre de Jesucristo para perdón de los pecados, y recibiréis el don del Espíritu Santo.

Al ejercitar la fe y cumplir con las sagradas promesas que hacemos con el Señor al bautizarnos y después al hacer más convenios en el templo, podemos seguir recibiendo el perdón de nuestros pecados a pesar de nuestra debilidad.

Además, El Rey Benjamin también dijo:

Y también os perdonaréis vuestras ofensas los unos a los otros; porque en verdad os digo que el que no perdona las ofensas de su prójimo, cuando este dice que se arrepiente, tal ha traído sobre sí la condenación.

Entonces, otro requisito para recibir el perdón del Señor es perdonar a los demás cuando nos hayan ofendido. Al perdonar a otros, seguimos el ejemplo del Señor y nos acercamos a Él. Benjamin siguió su discurso en cuanto a cómo podemos buscar la remisión de nuestros pecados al buscar al Señor:

Y otra vez os digo, según dije antes, que así como habéis llegado al conocimiento de la gloria de Dios, o si habéis sabido de su bondad, y probado su amor, y habéis recibido la remisión de vuestros pecados, lo que ocasiona tan inmenso gozo en vuestras almas, así quisiera que recordaseis y retuvieseis siempre en vuestra memoria la grandeza de Dios, y vuestra propia nulidad, y su bondad y longanimidad para con vosotros, indignas criaturas, y os humillaseis aun en las profundidades de la humildad, invocando el nombre del Señor diariamente, y permaneciendo firmes en la fe de lo que está por venir, que fue anunciado por boca del ángel.

Y he aquí, os digo que si hacéis esto, siempre os regocijaréis, y seréis llenos del amor de Dios y siempre retendréis la remisión de vuestros pecados; y aumentaréis en el conocimiento de la gloria de aquel que os creó, o sea, en el conocimiento de lo que es justo y verdadero.

Y ahora bien, por causa de estas cosas que os he hablado —es decir, a fin de retener la remisión de vuestros pecados de día en día, para que andéis sin culpa ante Dios— quisiera que de vuestros bienes dieseis al pobre, cada cual según lo que tuviere, tal como alimentar al hambriento, vestir al desnudo, visitar al enfermo, y ministrar para su alivio, tanto espiritual como temporalmente, según sus necesidades.

Podemos ver que todas estas cosas no son cosas que podemos hacer de una vez y ser perdonados. Son cosas que nos trae el perdón porque nos traen a Jesucristo y nos inspiran a caminar en esta vida siguiendo el ejemplo que nos dejó: el de amar y servir y perdonar a todos los demás. 

Si ustedes son perfeccionistas como la soy yo, puede ser que al escuchar todos estos requisitos y recomendaciones, sientan abrumados. A veces no siento que puedo hacer más de lo que estoy haciendo ahora. Pero como dije al principio, no tenemos que hacer todo en este mismo momento, por nosotros mismos. Si estamos haciendo un esfuerzo con buenas intenciones, tratando de buscar a Cristo, tengo confianza de que nuestros esfuerzos serán aceptados. También se nos ha dado el don del Espíritu Santo para guiarnos y enfocarnos en las cosas que Dios quiere que hagamos en cualquier momento. El profeta Nefi enseñó:

Porque he aquí, os digo otra vez, que si entráis por la senda y recibís el Espíritu Santo, él os mostrará todas las cosas que debéis hacer.

Quiero invitar a cada uno de nosotros a considerar el estado de nuestra relación con Dios, y a preguntarle lo que Él quiere que haga, sabiendo que Él te ama de todo corazón, que Él quiere perdonarte, que no te va a dar un trabajo que no puedes hacer, y que te ayudaré en cumplirlo.

Quiero terminar enfatizando mi testimonio de Jesucristo: Yo sé que tenemos a Padres Celestiales, que nos aman perfectamente y que quieren que todos sus hijos regresemos a su presencia. Por esto fue mandado Jesucristo a la tierra para llevar la carga de nuestros pecados y ganarnos la salvación. Estoy siempre agradecida por este don y el amor que tuvo para llevar a cabo este milagro que es el centro de todo el plan de salvación y de todo lo que hacemos en esta iglesia. El tratar de seguir a Cristo me ha traido a este mismo momento en mi vida, y nunca me a ha fallado. Este conocimiento me humilla y me da esperanza para seguir adelante.

Talk: Perfect in Christ

 Perfection in Christ

August 28, 2022

As I was pondering how to start my talk today, my mind somewhat randomly came to a phrase in my patriarchal blessing, which I think will be okay to share here. I am cautioned that at times Satan will attempt to bruise my heels and lead me astray. In the scriptures we read that Satan will have power to bruise our heels here in mortality, and I wondered what that really meant. So I Iooked up what it means to have a bruised heel, and Dr. Kenworthy over there confirmed that my internet search didn’t lead me too far astray, even if my medical terminology was incorrect. 

A bruised heel happens when the fat pad in your heel, which cushions the heel bone, is compressed and displaced, allowing the bone to bruise. 

It is caused by repetitive impact on the heel, especially from repetitive jumping or long-distance running (which happens to be my favorite sport. Not that I run that far these days, but if I’m going to do something, it’s usually running). Contributing factors are poor footwear and training errors, like increasing your training too far, too fast, or changing the surface you run on or your footwear you use without time to adapt. In short, it is an overuse injury.

I know this would have zero meaning to most people from a spiritual standpoint, but when I read that I caught my breath and had to stop for a minute, because I knew that this phrase was put there for a reason, for me. The Lord wanted to remind me right now that He knows me, and a main vulnerability to my spiritual well-being is overuse fatigue--expecting myself to be able to do more and be more right now, and being discouraged when I don’t measure up. 

But how do we reconcile all of the counsel we get to do better with the plain fact that we can’t do it all? This is something that I feel that the Lord has been teaching me over and over and over again. (Apparently I am not just a perfectionist, I am a stubborn perfectionist. But really, it’s something I’ve always struggled with)

In the past I have thought that if I was obedient enough I could do everything. Aren’t we promised that keeping the commandments will mean that we can run and not be weary and walk and not faint? It’s funny, given how much of my life I have spent running, how long it took me to actually learn about what all these scripture references to running mean in practice. We need to remember that the kind of stamina needed to run without becoming weary is only ever achieved by long, slow training, always with an eye to pacing. The Lord may ask me to run a marathon, but he doesn’t expect me to up and do it at World Championship pace right this second. Along that route, I need periods of slow runs, sprint and medley workouts to build speed, and lots of nourishment and rest.

I also like to pause when I hear the word, “shall.” This one came up a lot in my legal writing class way back when, because it really has multiple meanings. It can express what will happen, but it can also express a command. So commandment keeping will make it so that we will be able to run and not be weary, but if it’s a commandment as well as a promise, we need to do the practical things that keep us from getting weary: pacing ourselves, taking care of ourselves, making sure our shoes don’t get worn out and our form is proper, and sometimes taking a break or riding a bike or swimming instead of running at at all. Scriptures like Mosiah 4:27 explain how to do this: “And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.” The running really isn’t the important part here: it’s the diligence. And we enable ourselves to be consistent and diligent when we give ourselves a sustainable pace.

If you haven’t had enough misinterpreted scriptural running analogies, then I’m sorry but I’m on a roll so we are going to keep going. We often talk about running a race with respect to living the Gospel, and there is a lot we can learn from this analogy that is useful. Hebrews 12 encourages us to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” But I think this idea also can get us off track if we don’t understand the limits of the metaphor. The main characteristic of a race is competition. But living the Gospel, whose purpose is to redeem the whole human family, should be anything but a competition.

The girls on my high school cross-country team were all Christian, and our team scripture became 1 Corinthians 9:24: “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth a prize? So run, that ye may obtain. Great scripture, and it inspired me to run my hardest and try my best in more than just running. But 16-year-old me did not take time to understand the context of the rest of Paul’s message here. He continues: “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.” Oh, right there he is saying that we need to moderate our efforts and keep balance! Not just run flat out without stopping. “Now they (meaning the runners in a race) do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.” Right there Paul is saying that he is actually contrasting living the gospel with running a race to point out how they are different. “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air.” 

As we run our race with temperance, we should remember that the eternal race isn’t at all about how ahead or behind we perceive ourselves to be compared to the people around us or reaching a certain righteousness index. Certainly as we follow Christ He will help us to overcome sins and temptations, but the important part really isn’t the progress metric, but the process itself. Because the moment we think that we don’t need Christ desperately, or don’t need HIm as much as other people, we are right back at the starting line. This reminds me of the Nephites who were there when Christ appeared. They heard a voice, and the first two times they didn’t understand it because they looked around at each other to try to figure out what was happening. It wasn’t until the third time that they looked steadfastly to heaven, and not to each other, that they were able to understand what the Lord had to say to them.

As I wrote about competition and comparison, in my mind's eye I saw our ward as my high school track practice, where lots of different athletes of different abilities are training. Some are jogging slowly, some are doing sprints, some are walking or stretching. They all have different abilities and strengths. They are all training for different events. Some are practicing shot put or pole vault. Some, like me at some points, are in the field house icing their shins or riding a stationary bike because they, shockingly, have an overuse injury. And I felt the love of the Savior, who would look on each of those athletes that He loves and not care an ounce what mistakes they had made or what struggles they had or what place they came in at the last meet. Knowling all these things, He would only care that they were there showing up, willing to be coached and stretched, willing to try because they trust HIm and trust in the process He has laid out for each of them, and they want to do their best.

I think that’s why another phrase has been coming back to me for the last several months: the Lord’s course is “one eternal round.” Like that track where we can all train and help one another, remembering as Paul did that worldly races are about winning but eternal races aren’t. 

I think it’s so interesting that we regularly have images of the Lord being on a straight path but also being on a round one. In Alma 7 he says:

“For I perceive that ye are in the paths of righteousness; I perceive that ye are in the path which leads to the kingdom of God; yea, I perceive that ye are making his paths straight.

“I perceive that it has been made known unto you, by the testimony of his word, that he cannot walk in crooked paths; neither doth he vary from that which he hath said; neither hath he a shadow of turning from the right to the left, or from that which is right to that which is wrong; therefore, his course is one eternal round.”

The path is straight because it is narrow and doesn’t vary, but it’s round because the Lord is always on the right and never going to the left (or to what is wrong). When it comes to my analogy we may need to run the track backwards so we will always be turning right, but otherwise, I think the metaphor holds. And I think it’s safe to say that if you feel like you are running in circles and your efforts aren’t taking you as far as you might like, you are still on the Lord’s path. If you make the same mistakes you’ve made before but you get up and try again, you are still on the Lord’s path. And it doesn’t matter where on that track you are as long as you are trying to listen to His voice and do what He asks. It just matters that you are there trying, and supporting the other people that are there training with you.

In my effort to run and not be weary, for the last good while I have been slowly going through the Book of Mormon again, trying to take time and to open myself up to what the Lord might teach me, not putting too much pressure on myself to finish a certain study plan or have a remarkable insight every time. I think it was no coincidence that when I received this assignment I had been working my way through Christ’s teachings to the Nephites in 3 Nephi for a week or so.

Then, what do you know, I open up the talk that Bishop Smith suggested I reference for this talk and immediately Elder Holland brought up those very passages! He said:

“The Sermon on the Mount begins with soothing, gentle beatitudes, but in the verses that follow, we are told--among other things--not only not to kill but also not even to be angry. We are told not only not to commit adultery but also not even to have impure thoughts. To those who ask for it, we are to give our coat and then give our cloak also. We are to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, and do good to them who hate us.

He continues, “If that is your morning scripture study, and after reading just that far you are pretty certain you are not going to get good marks on your gospel report card, then the final commandment in the chain is sure to finish the job: ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father…in heaven is perfect.’ With that concluding imperative, we want to go back to bed and pull the covers over our head. Such celestial goals seem beyond our reach. Yet surely the Lord would never give us a commandment He knew we could not keep.”

Part of the problem that Elder Holland alludes to here comes from the fact that the connotations of the word “perfect” in  modern English are different from the original meaning in the scriptures. And now we get to go back to the tried-and-true, stereotypical way to start a talk:

The dictionary defines the word perfect as: 

1. conforming absolutely to the description or definition of an ideal type:

2. excellent or complete beyond practical or theoretical improvement:

3. Unblemished, faultless, flawless

If we apply this definition to Jesus’ injunction, we are likely to despair. No matter how much I try and how much I trust and how much I repent, I don’t see a way for me to conform absolutely to the measure of Christ, to get to the point that I can’t make any theoretical improvement, or to be faultless or flawless. Just ask my boys how many times in a week I have to apologize to them because I reacted poorly to something. But despair is a tool of Satan, not God. Despair is how I’m prone to being led astray, thinking that I just can’t measure up and so it’s less painful not to try. We can similarly be led astray if we expect that righteousness should make others free from error too. If we expect righteousness to mean perfectionism, then every leader and prophet from the beginning of time down to Russell M. Nelson will be a disappointment. And if the prophets can’t be perfect, and we can’t be perfect, what’s the point? This is why Satan wants so badly for us to spend our time tearing ourselves and others down, using a measuring stick that isn’t scaled for grace and mercy and the pure love of Christ. 

Thankfully, this is not what Christ asks of us. President Nelson has taught that the word used in Matthew 5 is the Greek teleios, meaning complete. Its prefix, tele-, as in telephone or telegram, indicates something far off. Its verb form means to complete or to reach a distant end or goal. (CR Oct 1995, “Perfection Pending”)

This definition of perfection is so much more hopeful to me. It’s something I can work toward, little by little, with help; not something I have to demonstrate now to be worthy. It causes me to look up at the goal instead of down on myself. 

And I think that is a huge key to becoming perfect in Christ. It’s looking to Him instead of looking to our own strength and wisdom and understanding. It’s trusting that even though the gap between our expectations and our performance seems wide, He can use us for His purposes and, line upon line, make us like He is.

Back to Elder Holland’s talk, which is from October 2017 for anyone who would like to read it:

“‘Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him,...,’ Moroni pleads. “Love God with all your might, mind and strength, then … by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ.’ Our only hope for true perfection is in receiving it as a gift from heaven--we can’t ‘earn’ it. Thus, the grace of Christ offers us not only salvation from sorrow and sin and death but also salvation from our own persistent self-criticism.” 

I love to think about what it means to receive the gift of perfection from Christ like Elder Holland says rather than trying to earn it myself. When I think about the magnitude of that gift, I’m inspired to obey Him out of love and to give what I can to His other children. I don’t excuse my sins and mistakes, but I can forgive myself for them and resolve to keep on trying. That’s the difference between guilt vs. shame, between grace vs. perfectionism, and really between what Christ tells us about ourselves vs. what the adversary wants us to believe. We are supposed to have weakness so that Christ can mold us into the people He needs us to be.

So going back to those “soothing, gentle beatitudes” that Christ gives before asking us to live a higher, more demanding law, I see now why it was so important that they be given first. If we come up against the demands of the law and feel broken or weak, if we sin and we mourn and we feel like the poorest in spirit, then the law is having its proper effect on us: it has shown us our need for Christ. Remember the people who He blesses are poor, broken, meek, hungry, thirsty, and persecuted. These aren’t things we are trying to avoid, as we do in a worldly sense. These are things we are seeking after, because it’s not so much the achievements as the continual turning to HIm that He is looking for. It’s the broken heart that He wants, because it’s a broken heart that can let Him in to stretch and grow and change. “And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit.” (3 Nephi 9:20) Then if we turn to Him we will be blessed as He described!

 

Elder Holland put it this way:  “Brothers and sisters, every one of us aspires to a more Christlike life than we often succeed in living. If we admit that honestly and are trying to improve, we are not hypocrites; we are human. May we refuse to let our own mortal follies, and the inevitable shortcomings of even the best men and women around us, make us cynical about the truths of the gospel, the truthfulness of the Church, our hope for our future, or the possibility of godliness. If we persevere, then somewhere in eternity our refinement will be finished and complete--which is the New Testament meaning of perfection.”

With that in mind, my personal invitation for all of us is that we press forward toward perfection in the sense that we press forward toward Christ. We keep looking to Him, trying to do what He asks us with the understanding that He’ll provide the strength and the light and He can make our small and imperfect offerings able to accomplish His great work.

We can “be not weary in well-doing, for [we] are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind.” (D&C 64:33–34) Not perfection; desire and willingness. 

“[We] are not able to abide the presence of God now, neither the ministering of angels; wherefore, continue in patience until [we] are perfected.” (D&C 67:13)

We follow the counsel to “not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided…; but be diligent unto the end.” (D&C 10:3)

As Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve taught:

“As we seek new and holier ways to love God and help us and others prepare to meet Him, we remember that perfection is in Christ, not in ourselves or in the perfectionism of the world.

“God’s invitations are full of love and possibility because Jesus Christ is “the way, the truth, and the life.” To those who feel burdened, He invites, “Come unto me,” and to those who come to Him, He promises, “I will give you rest.” “Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, … love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ.”

I leave that invitation and my testimony that Jesus is the Christ, who took all of our sins and weaknesses and infirmities upon Himself so that He can make us whole, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.