Feeling Gods Love [part three]
From a recent sacrament talk I wrote
Thought
Repent. Prophets in every age have taught us to repent. Jesus himself instructed Joseph Smith to “say nothing but repentance unto this generation”. President Nelson has taught us however that “too many consider repentance as punishment”
President Holland has likewise taught that “repentance is not a foreboding word…repentance is simply the scriptural invitation for growth and improvement and progress and renewal”
President Nelson has clearly declared that we all need to repent. He has taught us that when “Jesus asks [us] to repent, he is inviting us to change our mind, our knowledge, our spirit – even the way we breathe. He is asking us to change the way we love, think, serve, spend our time, treat our [spouses], teach our children, and even care for our bodies”
Contrary to the ideas and philosophies of our day, you and I aren’t perfect or fine ‘Just the way we are’. The purpose of God's plan of happiness is to make us “joint-heirs with Christ”, and to receive all that they have. And from my vantage point, we all have a ways to go.
But because each of us is a beloved spirit son or daughter of Heavenly Parents, our divine identity and purpose are far greater than our current condition. Repentance helps us to realize our full potential and invites the companionship of the Holy Ghost who can testify of our Heavenly Parents and Christ’s love for us.
When we sin or fail to repent, we stifle our ability to feel God’s love. Of all God’s commandments I am most guilty of breaking, it is His commandment to “look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not”
Quote.
only two views of [Jesus] are possible. Either he was a raving lunatic of an unusually abominable type, or else He was, and is, precisely what he said. There is no middle way.
- C.S. Lewis (The Problem of Pain, p.13)
Idea.
Still, still, still… is one of the simplest and surest ways to see, feel, and hear Jesus Christ this Christmas season.