Good afternoon Family and Friends!
This last week was one of growth and strength for me! We are preparing Monday for another transfer. I personally love transfers because they are a time for a new start! We will receive a large group of new missionaries and we will have a lot of changes this transfer. This last week when approached by one of my companions about having a disorganized closet, I felt as though my Dad was once again talking to me as he said: "You need to keep your clothes picked up in your closet area". The comment frustrated me. I had seen so many faults in how he hadn't washed dishes or kept the bathroom cleaned. A million of his faults passed through my head. But before anger overtook me and I started to argue, a thought popped into my head: "Forgive him, for though he may be wrong, you too are wrong."
Are we not all wrong? Are we not as King Benjamin states "Are we not all beggars?" or to say: Are we not all sinners and wrong at times? Realizing this and forgiving others puts off the natural man and one of Satan's strongest temptations against man, that of Pride. This Christlike attribute necessary for our Exaltation and eternal Progress is called Humility.
Church sources state that "to be humble is to recognize gratefully our dependence on the Lord—to understand that we have constant need for His support. Humility is an acknowledgment that our talents and abilities are gifts from God. It is not a sign of weakness, timidity, or fear; it is an indication that we know where our true strength lies. We can be both humble and fearless. We can be both humble and courageous. Jesus Christ is our greatest example of humility. During His mortal ministry, He always acknowledged that His strength came because of His dependence on His Father. He said: "I can of mine own self do nothing. … I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me" . The Lord will strengthen us as we humble ourselves before Him. James taught: "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. … Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up" .
Similarly in a Spoken word message recently the message was shared: "We know that nobody is perfect—the evidence is all around us. It’s not hard to notice faults and errors in other people. But we are often less eager to admit our own faults, our own mistakes. It’s sometimes embarrassing, uncomfortable, even risky. Will others think less of us if we confess to being wrong? A student once approached his teacher after class to dispute the low score he had received on an essay. Instead of brushing him off, the teacher read the essay again carefully and realized she had undervalued his work—she had made a mistake. After correcting his grade, she not only felt better about herself but made a lasting impression on the student. Rather than resenting her mistake or losing confidence in her abilities, he gained new respect for a teacher who was willing to take responsibility for her errors. Admitting mistakes is not shameful. It simply means we are learning—that we are now wiser than we were before. Everyone who has achieved anything meaningful—great inventors, scientists, artists, athletes, entrepreneurs—experienced many failures on the path to success. But those failures are only beneficial if we’re willing to accept them as such. Those who are too proud to acknowledge their own imperfections are fooling themselves—and usually nobody else. They are inventing an image that blocks their view of the road to improvement. And they miss the peace that comes from living with honesty—which always means living with imperfection. When someone admits a mistake, we feel a rush of admiration. We also feel safe acknowledging our own shortcomings and confident that we too can improve. Imagine the effect on a child who learns from observing a parent that when we make mistakes, we own up to them, and we do better next time. How much better that is than pretending that we never make mistakes. It isn’t until we accept that we are all works in progress that we actually do make progress. It’s a beautiful paradox that we cannot move forward until we admit that we’ve been moving backward. Owning our weakness is, in reality, perhaps the best way to show strength."
That we may think this week on forgiving others in a way that liberates us to grow is my invitation.
I Love and miss each and every one of you! Have a great week!
-Elder Matthew Arscott
Fotinhos Simples:
Baptism of João
Elder Hammond and our Cardboard stash
Alex left for his mission this week
Group Baptism Photo
No comments:
Post a Comment