Study it out in your mind

In D&C 9:8, the Lord tells Oliver Cowdry to study the idea out in his mind.  Then he should ask if it is right.  Also in that chapter he chastised Oliver, saying that he expected an answer when he took no thought, save to ask.

I have been asking about a challenge I've been dealing with regarding one of my children.  After reading this scripture, I decide to think a bit about what has and hasn't been working.  An idea came to mind of what to do.  I haven't tried it yet, but I have full confidence it will help because the idea came after I followed the Lord's pattern.

So today, when my daughter loses her temper, rather than try to talk her down, I am going to read to her from the New Testament story book.  Then when she is calm, we will talk about what happened.

Not Ever Done

The Lord loves our righteousness but asks of us continued repentance and submission. In the Bible we read that it was a commandment-keeping, wealthy young man who knelt before the Savior and asked what he needed to do to have eternal life. He turned away grieved when the Savior said, “One thing thou lackest: … sell whatsoever thou hast.”⁹

Yet, it was another wealthy but worldly man, the chief Lamanite king, the father of Lamoni, who also asked the same question about eternal life, saying: “What shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit[?] … I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.”¹⁰

Do you remember the response the Lord gave the king through His servant Aaron? “If thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest.”¹¹

When the king understood the sacrifice required, he humbled and prostrated himself and then prayed, “O God, … I will give away all my sins to know thee.

This is an excerpt from a talk by Elder Robert C. Gay from last conference.  It was the basis for our Relief Society lesson yesterday.  The teacher asked what the difference was between these two men.  I thought about it through the lens of the first sentence of this excerpt.  "The Lord loves our righteousness but asks of us our continued repentance and submission."  What was the difference?  The wealthy young man was very righteous, but I think he wanted to be done.  The Savior asked him to do more, to strive to be more righteous, to submit his will to the father, to give all that he had in exchange for all the Lord has.  The young man was perfectly willing to be righteous, but when the Lord asked for continued submission, he wouldn't do it.

The king was a wicked man.  He had sinned all his life, but had now felt the spirit and heard the truth.  He was not yet righteous, but he offered up his sins and submitted his will to the Lord.

It would be nice to have a checklist - some finite number of things that I could do to enter the Lord's kingdom.  But it doesn't work that way.  The Lord has given me commandments.  He has set a perfect example for me to follow.  However, obeying the commandments and following Christ's example are the means to an end, not the ultimate goal.  The goal is for my heart to change, for me to submit my will to the Father so I can become the person he wants me to be.  

As long as I live and breathe, I will never be done.  I can always be one more thought, one more deed, one more step closer to my Savior.

http://www.lds.org/ensign/2012/11/what-shall-a-man-give-in-exchange-for-his-soul?lang=eng

covenant to be led

"When we received this Gospel, we covenanted before God that we would be led, that we would be governed, and would follow the suggestions of the Holy Spirit, "
Lorenzo Snow

I have known about the gift of the Holy Ghost all my life, but I've never thought about it in quite this way.  I covenanted to be led by the Holy Ghost.  I've always thought of following the spirit.  somehow choosing to follow seems different than being led.  Following is completely under my control - I can follow or I can choose my own path.  Being led by the spirit seems to take my own will out of the equation.  It implies a level of submission that I have never achieved.  I want to be led by the Holy Spirit.  I want the Lord to lead me because his ways are better than my ways and will lead to lasting happiness and joy.

http://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-lorenzo-snow/chapter-2-baptism-and-the-gift-of-the-holy-ghost?lang=eng