Forget Yourself and Go to Work

This week in New Testament class our professor discussed the role of the Holy Ghost in the Godhead. It is odd on how much we talk of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and not not very much of who the Holy Ghost is as the 3rd member. In John 16:13 Christ tells us that the Holy Ghost "shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will shew you things to come." When we think of the role of the Holy Ghost as simply being a messenger, it tells us how we should act as his servants. When we are on the errand of the Lord, we don't put the focus on us, but on Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost understands that perfectly. He simply does his job and gets out of the way to put focus on our savior. 

The Savior then puts our focus on the Father. In Moses 4:2, Christ told the Father that he would do what the father asked him to do and give Him the glory. That night after the New Testament class , I was in the car with a friend from the mission. As we drove I told him how I saw the bishop of a ward I served in on my mission. The bishop recognized me but didn't know my name. I knew he had seen a lot of missionaries between since a year and a half ago but my mission buddy brought up a good point to me. He asked me "doesn't it felt good knowing that you worked hard and received none of the glory?' I got out of the way so the focus could be on Jesus Christ. Reflecting on the work I had done in that area, I realized that it wasn't a bad sign that the bishop didn't remember my name. When I think of this type of missionary work, I think of the quote by Gordon B. Hinckley's dad- forget yourself and go to work.

God's Gifts

In my New Testament class, we discussed the parable of the talents. This master gives his servants different amounts of talents. Many people assume that Christ is talking of the skills many of us have. However, a talent is simply a sum of money and thus the symbolism can be looked at with a much broader view. A talent can be any gift that our Heavenly Father has given us. this parable is perfect to think of during this thanksgiving season. Some of the gifts my Heavenly Father is a loving family that also loves God. This also reminded me of the verse in the Doctrine of Covenants that tells us of the gifts of the Spirit our Heavenly Father has given us. Doctrine Covenants 46:11-12 says "For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God. To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby." I thought of the people I've met through out my life they have told me stories that have happened through the gifts of the Spirit. Many of the gifts that were made present during each miracle were ones I never experienced. At times I struggled believing since I had never had such an experience myself. However, as I grown I've seen miracles myself that manifested to me that Heavenly Father has given me gifts of the Spirit. These experiences with this scripture has helped me gain a stronger testimony in those miracles I have not experienced myself. In the parable of the talents the lord tells both the 5 talent servant and 2 talent servant the same reply. In verse 21 and 23 of Matthew , the lord says "Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of the Lord." This shows that our God does not trust those he has given any more responsibility to anymore. He does not have a bigger celestial vision for them. He only expects each of us to do our best with what he has trusted us with. I think of everything I've been taught since I was a child and realize how accountable I am to all of that. I also understand that this knowledge I have given does not make me better in God's eyes by any degree. I am very thankful for everything I have been given.

Overcoming False Traditions

Changing one's way of thinking is one of the hardest changes in this gospel. When one has grown up believing some idea for most of their life, it can be very hard for someone to then believe something else. A false tradition that the Jews believed, including the Apostles, was people were blind because they were sinners. In the beginning of John 9, Christ comes across a blind man that had been blind since birth. In verse 3 Christ took the time to explain to these apostles "neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that works of God should be made manifest in him." I thought of how that might have been hard for the apostles to digest. For the longest time they looked at blind men as sinners and now they were being told otherwise. I thought of how difficult it has been in America's history for groups of people to overcome feelings of racism. I thought of how there might be ways I hold on to false traditions or ideologies that aren't of God. In that way we are all like the blind man by how we can be blinded from the truth because of false traditions we have brought ourselves to believe. Luckily, our savior is there to remove the blindness from us- which would take a miracle. Our savior tells us this in the Book of Mormon. Ether 12:27 we learn Christ will take the weaknesses and imperfections we have and make them in to strengths. I am grateful for my Savior making that possible.