In teaching youth each Sunday I get to observe them. I've spent quite a bit of time instructing young men over the last seven years. The boys I help teach right now are a bit hard to keep focused on the Spirit. When I talk to them about knowing the Holy Ghost, and what the Holy Ghost produces inside us, I get the sense that they don't know the Spirit as well as they could. They're not used to recognizing the Holy Ghost, and in a sense seem to be unaware of the very real presence that is there when we're correctly testifying of Christ and the Gospel.
It's understandable; I didn't have a full sense of what the Holy Ghost was like when I was young. It took time to develop that sense.
There's also something else. In the Missionary Training Center our teachers taught us of the importance of helping others to recognize and identify the Holy Ghost as we taught them. This made sense to me in a basic way, but I struggled a bit initially. I didn't feel like I was able to do it. I went on with my time there, and one day, in the middle of a class, I thought to myself, "Wow; the Spirit is really strong here right now." Then, I suddenly realized that I had done it. I had recognized the influence of the Spirit. What's more, I had done so many times in the past, but from that point on I learned to be more sensitive to the feelings that the Holy Ghost produces in us.
It's really more than just simple feelings, though we certainly do feel and experience the things described in Galatians 5:22.
My hope for the young men that I teach is that they also gain a greater sensitivity to the Spirit.
While in Afghanistan I had several discussions about science and religion with another officer. I rather enjoyed the discussions, and I hoped in a way that one day he would be interested in seeking a testimony of the restored Gospel. In one discussion he brought up a scientific study he'd heard of that involved people being attached to electrodes (around the brain) and feeling "the Spirit of God", or the same feelings that God produces in us, after being stimulated electrically. He took it as proof that our feelings are not, in fact, from God. I saw it quite in the opposite way; when I've felt the Holy Ghost many times in the past, I'm quite certain I didn't have electrodes hooked up to my brain, so the only other place the feelings could come from is God.
One of my favorite life experiences is to listen to the simple words of an Apostle during General Conference and feeling a strong witness from the Holy Ghost. There's no inspiring music at that moment, no external influence of any kind, and of course no brain-wired electrodes that could possibly provide me a counterfeit feeling like that of the Holy Ghost. The pure and beautiful truth that they speak, inviting the Holy Ghost to testify to us, is the only thing that it could possibly be.
Over the last few years, with some particular struggles, I've grown weaker at times. When we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, we're instructed with a specific verb: "receive". We have to act in order to stay close to the presence of the Spirit of God. Throughout our lives, we can draw closer to God or let ourselves slip farther away, and it's vital that we make daily efforts to move closer.
Last thoughts for now:
I hope to grow closer to the Spirit of God again and to be strong in service to my Heavenly Father and His children. I hope to assist the young men I help teach to truly know the Holy Ghost, whose power and influence they so definitely need right now and will need in the future.
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teaching. Show all posts
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Sunday, October 20, 2013
The Sacrament and the Gospel
While the sacrament is being administered to us, I generally whisper to one of my children (whichever is closest to me at the time) to ask them about the meaning of the sacrament and explain as necessary. It makes for a lot of repetition, but I really want them to understand the importance and meaning of the covenant. They know that when they're eight years old they'll be baptized, and then they'll start taking the sacrament each week also. (Right now they don't; I don't want them to be taking the bread and water out of habit only, but rather to meaningfully renew covenants as they eat and drink.)
On another topic:
When we used to teach people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ as missionaries, and as I've taught and been taught many times since, some central ideas about the Atonement of Jesus Christ are that He overcame two major obstacles for us: physical death ("the grave") and spiritual death("hell"). Because of the Fall we are mortal and subject to physical death, at which time our spirits will lose the marvelous bodies that God has given us. Also, with our moral agency we are free to choose our actions, and we all will make choices that separate us from God (and thus causing spiritual death). Jesus suffered for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane, suffering such pain that He bled from the pores of His skin. He then died and was later resurrected.
Perhaps the connection is already obvious in stating this much. In any case, here's what my whispered conversation with my kids tends to sound like:
Daddy: "Why do we take the sacrament?"
Child: (waits)
Daddy: "We take the sacrament to renew our covenants. We make promises to Heavenly Father when we're baptized. We covenant to be like Jesus, to take His name upon us, and to obey the commandments. What does the bread remind us of?"
Child: "Jesus' body."
Daddy: "Yes. Because Jesus died, and his body went in a tomb for three days. What happened then?"
Child: "He was resurrected."
Daddy: "That's right, and because He was resurrected, we all will be, too."
As the water is being administered:
Daddy: "What does the water remind us of?"
Child: "Jesus' blood."
Daddy: "Yes, because Jesus paid for our sins and it hurt Him so much that he bled. Because He paid for our sins, we can all repent and live with our Heavenly Father again."
I don't think I've ever heard anyone teach that the sacrament is directly related to Jesus' resurrection and His experience in the Garden of Gethsemane, but it makes sense to me that way.
Last thoughts for now:
I want my kids to be ready for baptism. I want them to have a testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Just as elements of teachings in the temple are symbolic, the bread and water definitely are also. Jesus is the bread of life and the water of life, He died and was resurrected so that we will be too, and He atoned for our sins so that we can repent and be forgiven. All of us.
On another topic:
When we used to teach people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ as missionaries, and as I've taught and been taught many times since, some central ideas about the Atonement of Jesus Christ are that He overcame two major obstacles for us: physical death ("the grave") and spiritual death("hell"). Because of the Fall we are mortal and subject to physical death, at which time our spirits will lose the marvelous bodies that God has given us. Also, with our moral agency we are free to choose our actions, and we all will make choices that separate us from God (and thus causing spiritual death). Jesus suffered for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane, suffering such pain that He bled from the pores of His skin. He then died and was later resurrected.
Perhaps the connection is already obvious in stating this much. In any case, here's what my whispered conversation with my kids tends to sound like:
Daddy: "Why do we take the sacrament?"
Child: (waits)
Daddy: "We take the sacrament to renew our covenants. We make promises to Heavenly Father when we're baptized. We covenant to be like Jesus, to take His name upon us, and to obey the commandments. What does the bread remind us of?"
Child: "Jesus' body."
Daddy: "Yes. Because Jesus died, and his body went in a tomb for three days. What happened then?"
Child: "He was resurrected."
Daddy: "That's right, and because He was resurrected, we all will be, too."
As the water is being administered:
Daddy: "What does the water remind us of?"
Child: "Jesus' blood."
Daddy: "Yes, because Jesus paid for our sins and it hurt Him so much that he bled. Because He paid for our sins, we can all repent and live with our Heavenly Father again."
I don't think I've ever heard anyone teach that the sacrament is directly related to Jesus' resurrection and His experience in the Garden of Gethsemane, but it makes sense to me that way.
Last thoughts for now:
I want my kids to be ready for baptism. I want them to have a testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Just as elements of teachings in the temple are symbolic, the bread and water definitely are also. Jesus is the bread of life and the water of life, He died and was resurrected so that we will be too, and He atoned for our sins so that we can repent and be forgiven. All of us.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Incorrect Teachings Among the Saints
There have been times in my past where I missed the mark a bit when trying to help others to be righteous. I think it has tended to be when I was reaching beyond the scope of my stewardship, and that I was being overzealous. There have been other times when I have heard others share incorrect of skewed doctrines. It feels a bit strange when this happens; if we're listening to the Holy Ghost, He tells us very clearly that something isn't right, just as He testifies to us when we hear and speak truth.
It can be uncomfortable though when someone misses the mark, particularly when we know that the person is genuinely trying to be a true disciple of Christ. However, in simple terms this is really just another mistake, of which we make many.
We read in 3 Nephi 1:24 that after Christ was born, some Nephites attempted "to prove by the scriptures that it was no more expedient to observe the law of Moses." Note that they were using the scriptures; that much is to their credit. As we read further in the same verse and also verse 25, "Now in this thing they did err, having not understood the scriptures. But it came to pass that they soon became converted, and were convinced of the error which they were in...therefore in this same year were they brought to a knowledge of their error and did confess their faults." Put simply, they misunderstood something, tried to teach something false, and were corrected.
Having made and witnessed mistakes, I have gained a desire to not repeat them. In this case, I try to be careful to only state truth when state something as if it were truth. When I state something about which I'm uncertain, I say as much. Sometimes it's a very good thing to share good ideas that are unverifiable, as long as it's clear that the ideas are not purported to be verified doctrine.
When people do teach something incorrect, it's important to simply love them and help them, just like in any other circumstance. Here, that means correcting them with as little awkwardness or embarrassment as possible.
Last thoughts for now:
Truth is a joy to those who seek to be righteous. We all make mistakes sometimes. We can all learn and get past those mistakes, and we can all help others to do the same.
It can be uncomfortable though when someone misses the mark, particularly when we know that the person is genuinely trying to be a true disciple of Christ. However, in simple terms this is really just another mistake, of which we make many.
We read in 3 Nephi 1:24 that after Christ was born, some Nephites attempted "to prove by the scriptures that it was no more expedient to observe the law of Moses." Note that they were using the scriptures; that much is to their credit. As we read further in the same verse and also verse 25, "Now in this thing they did err, having not understood the scriptures. But it came to pass that they soon became converted, and were convinced of the error which they were in...therefore in this same year were they brought to a knowledge of their error and did confess their faults." Put simply, they misunderstood something, tried to teach something false, and were corrected.
Having made and witnessed mistakes, I have gained a desire to not repeat them. In this case, I try to be careful to only state truth when state something as if it were truth. When I state something about which I'm uncertain, I say as much. Sometimes it's a very good thing to share good ideas that are unverifiable, as long as it's clear that the ideas are not purported to be verified doctrine.
When people do teach something incorrect, it's important to simply love them and help them, just like in any other circumstance. Here, that means correcting them with as little awkwardness or embarrassment as possible.
Last thoughts for now:
Truth is a joy to those who seek to be righteous. We all make mistakes sometimes. We can all learn and get past those mistakes, and we can all help others to do the same.
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