There is a short scripture, which can be found in the Bible (Matthew 5:48) as well as the Book of Mormon (3 Nephi 12:48) which states that we should be perfect, even as Christ, or our Heavenly Father. We need not worry if this command seems impossible at present. We are children of God, and so have the potential to be like Him. This life is our time to learn and to grow, to make changes in our lives, to become who we want to be.
A few years ago I was able to attend a day course with work that was entitled ‘Best Year Yet’. It was a great course, and enabled me time to really think about the areas of my life that I needed to improve in. Looking back that probably was one of my Best Years, in terms of sticking to my goals. We looked at different areas of our lives, such as being a Mother, Sister, Daughter, YW Leader, Wife etc. and created goals that were measurable for each area. I remember that I had decided to read a certain number of books that year, to visit with my brothers and sisters a certain number of times, to write to a certain number of missionaries per month, to go to the temple every month. These goals were displayed where I could see them every day, and I recorded any progress there too.
In previous years and ones since I have made goals, but I have never devoted so much time to really thinking about the goals that I want to make. I want to make time to do this for 2008. Too often when I look over entries in my Journals of New Years Resolutions I see the same things written.
I suppose I am much like the man described by Benjamin Franklin, who, upon buying an axe from an ironsmith, “… desired to have the whole of its surface as bright as its edge. The smith consented to grind it bright for him if he would turn the wheel; he turned while the smith pressed the broad face of the axe hard and heavily on the stone, which made the turning of it very fatiguing. The man came every now and then from the wheel to see how the work went on, and at length would take his axe as it was, without further grinding. ‘No,’ said the smith, ‘turn on, turn on; we shall have it bright by-and-by; as yet it is only speckled.’ ‘Yes,’ says the man, ‘but I think I like the speckled axe best.’ ” (Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, New York: Roslyn, Walter J. Black, Inc., 1969, pp. 138–39.)
At first I want to be perfect, as the scripture asks us to be, but then when I realise how much hard work is involved – even though it is possible – I decide that maybe its good enough the way it is. Especially if I see others around me who’s axes look the same, or worse, but we need to strive to be like the Saviour.
If we take time to look at our lives, we know what we could be doing better, and not only that, but we usually know how to go about changing that aspect of our lives. Elder Joe J. Christensen gave a BYU devotional where he describes a young county farm agent who wanted to put his college training to use and said to the farmer, “Sam, you know that now we use something called contour plowing.” He went on to also expound on the benefits of hybrid strains of grain and crop rotation. About the time he got to the benefits of milking the cows three times a day rather than two, the old farmer said, “Hey, sonny, just a minute. I’m not farming half as well as I know how already.”
I am often like this farmer, I know what improvements I should make, I just haven’t got around to it yet. One of President Spencer W. Kimball’s famous quotes was “Do it now”. That’s what we must do, if we are to progress towards perfection, if we are to move on with our goals, to new and more perfect ones, we need to do it now. In Alma 34:32-33 we read:
We need to read the scriptures and understand the doctrine, so that we can have this mighty change of heart. And it is this change of heart that can motivate us to ‘do it now’. This change of heart is not a once in a lifetime occurrence, or shouldn’t be. We need to be learning continually, in order that the momentum of our changes be kept up. The Pride Cycle that we see so often in the Book of Mormon can be applied to our lives too, when things are going well, it is all too easy to sit back and not provide the same force for change as was needed to get to that position, and then it is mighty hard to get that momentum back.
I love that we get to start a new year, it reminds me of starting a new book at school. The writing always tended to be neater at the beginning of the book – but maybe this time, the end will be even neater. We are given a New Year, but also a New Week and a New Day, all great times to recommit to those things we need to change in our lives to become more like our Saviour Jesus Christ.
I am so thankful for the Gospel in my life, for the opportunity I have to learn the doctrine, to make covenants with my Heavenly Father and to be reminded of them each week. I want to keep the covenants that I have made, and not just let them fizzle out like other goals often do. It will take a lot of effort, but it really will be worth it. Let’s help each other, by showing those around us that it is possible to make our Axe’s really shiny, that Heavenly Father has prepared a way.
A few years ago I was able to attend a day course with work that was entitled ‘Best Year Yet’. It was a great course, and enabled me time to really think about the areas of my life that I needed to improve in. Looking back that probably was one of my Best Years, in terms of sticking to my goals. We looked at different areas of our lives, such as being a Mother, Sister, Daughter, YW Leader, Wife etc. and created goals that were measurable for each area. I remember that I had decided to read a certain number of books that year, to visit with my brothers and sisters a certain number of times, to write to a certain number of missionaries per month, to go to the temple every month. These goals were displayed where I could see them every day, and I recorded any progress there too.
In previous years and ones since I have made goals, but I have never devoted so much time to really thinking about the goals that I want to make. I want to make time to do this for 2008. Too often when I look over entries in my Journals of New Years Resolutions I see the same things written.
I suppose I am much like the man described by Benjamin Franklin, who, upon buying an axe from an ironsmith, “… desired to have the whole of its surface as bright as its edge. The smith consented to grind it bright for him if he would turn the wheel; he turned while the smith pressed the broad face of the axe hard and heavily on the stone, which made the turning of it very fatiguing. The man came every now and then from the wheel to see how the work went on, and at length would take his axe as it was, without further grinding. ‘No,’ said the smith, ‘turn on, turn on; we shall have it bright by-and-by; as yet it is only speckled.’ ‘Yes,’ says the man, ‘but I think I like the speckled axe best.’ ” (Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, New York: Roslyn, Walter J. Black, Inc., 1969, pp. 138–39.)
At first I want to be perfect, as the scripture asks us to be, but then when I realise how much hard work is involved – even though it is possible – I decide that maybe its good enough the way it is. Especially if I see others around me who’s axes look the same, or worse, but we need to strive to be like the Saviour.
If we take time to look at our lives, we know what we could be doing better, and not only that, but we usually know how to go about changing that aspect of our lives. Elder Joe J. Christensen gave a BYU devotional where he describes a young county farm agent who wanted to put his college training to use and said to the farmer, “Sam, you know that now we use something called contour plowing.” He went on to also expound on the benefits of hybrid strains of grain and crop rotation. About the time he got to the benefits of milking the cows three times a day rather than two, the old farmer said, “Hey, sonny, just a minute. I’m not farming half as well as I know how already.”
I am often like this farmer, I know what improvements I should make, I just haven’t got around to it yet. One of President Spencer W. Kimball’s famous quotes was “Do it now”. That’s what we must do, if we are to progress towards perfection, if we are to move on with our goals, to new and more perfect ones, we need to do it now. In Alma 34:32-33 we read:
For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labours.This is our time to make changes, to become who we want to be. In Alma 31:5 we read about the power of God’s word to change people:
And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labour performed.
And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God.And again after King Benjamin speaks to his people we read in Mosiah 5:2:
And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.Our own Latter-Day prophets have pointed out that this change will happen for us also. Elder Boyd K Packer has taught that “True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior," and that, "The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior."
We need to read the scriptures and understand the doctrine, so that we can have this mighty change of heart. And it is this change of heart that can motivate us to ‘do it now’. This change of heart is not a once in a lifetime occurrence, or shouldn’t be. We need to be learning continually, in order that the momentum of our changes be kept up. The Pride Cycle that we see so often in the Book of Mormon can be applied to our lives too, when things are going well, it is all too easy to sit back and not provide the same force for change as was needed to get to that position, and then it is mighty hard to get that momentum back.
I love that we get to start a new year, it reminds me of starting a new book at school. The writing always tended to be neater at the beginning of the book – but maybe this time, the end will be even neater. We are given a New Year, but also a New Week and a New Day, all great times to recommit to those things we need to change in our lives to become more like our Saviour Jesus Christ.
I am so thankful for the Gospel in my life, for the opportunity I have to learn the doctrine, to make covenants with my Heavenly Father and to be reminded of them each week. I want to keep the covenants that I have made, and not just let them fizzle out like other goals often do. It will take a lot of effort, but it really will be worth it. Let’s help each other, by showing those around us that it is possible to make our Axe’s really shiny, that Heavenly Father has prepared a way.
3 comments:
Thank you for sharing your talk.
Whilst reading it I thought about Elder Oaks recent talk Good, Better, Best about setting priorities. There is so much we could do, that we must decide even not to do some 'good' things.
I also was reminded of a talk that President Faust prepared but did not give in which he talks about The Power to Change.
The talk by Elder Oaks is a great one, I wish I'd thought of adding something from it in my talk.
Also - thanks for adding great links.. maybe I should prepare my talks well in advance, then I can have you comment on them first.
Andrew and I have thought about writing talks/articles about subjects just because it would be good to draw information from, or be able to speak on a topic at short notice. Having someone read them, would make that even more enjoyable.
I found a Wonderful site on Isaiah!
http://www.isaiahexplained.com/
The site has free lessons on every chapter.
Very well done and in the author’s own voice.
Every Isaiah Chapter has the Analytical Commentary of Isaiah. Enjoy this personable verse-by-verse commentary of Isaiah by well-known Hebrew scholar Avraham Gileadi.
“Dr. Gileadi is the only LDS scholar I know of who is thoroughly competent to teach the words of Isaiah”—Professor Hugh Nibley, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. (1. 6. 2003)
“It is my testimony that this man has been brought forward and trained at this time to help those inside the Church into Isaiah, and those outside the Church, Jew and Gentile, through Isaiah into the Church” —Arthur Henry King, author, former BYU professor and London
Temple President.
“Dr. Gileadi has achieved a major breakthrough in the investigation of a book of such complexity and importance as the Book of Isaiah”—Professor David Noel Freedman, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“Dr. Gileadi’s work will render obsolete almost all the speculations of Isaiah scholars over the last one hundred years . . . enabling scholarship to proceed along an entirely new line . . . opening new avenues of approach for others to follow”—Professor Roland K. Harrison, Wycliffe College, Toronto, Canada.
“Only one who is truly at home not only with the Hebrew but with the ancient manner of biblical thought could have produced such an insightful and ground-breaking book”—Professor S. Douglas Waterhouse, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan.
“Avraham Gileadi’s unsealing of the Book of Isaiah will forever change people’s
understanding of Judeo-Christian religion, lifting it to heights hitherto known only to prophets and saints”—Arie Noot, corporate executive, Edmond, Oklahoma.
“Isaiah Decoded is a huge breakthrough for the seeker of truth—Jew, Christian, Moslem, and agnostic. From an ancient writing, Gileadi has brought to light eternal truths about the nature of God and our relationship to him that have lain buried for centuries in the dust of time”—Guy Wins, fifth-generation Jewish diamond dealer from Antwerp, Belgium.
“Gileadi is the only scholar I know who has been able to express the Jewish expectation of the Messiah in relation to the life and mission of Jesus of Nazareth”—Daniel Rona, Israeli tour guide, Jerusalem, Israel.
“Dr. Gileadi has clearly demonstrated his mastery of the Book of Isaiah and of the scholarly literature dealing with it”—Professor Ronald Youngblood, Bethel Theological Seminary, San Diego, California.
“Avraham Gileadi’s books and tapes take the casual observer of Isaiah’s words and transform him into an enlightened and lifelong student of the Word of God”—Allan and Nancy Pratt, LDS mission president, Toulouse, France.
“Dr. Gileadi has awakened a whole new depth of my understanding of Isaiah’s prophetic message. His books and tapes illuminate the urgent relevance of Isaiah’s writings to our own day”—Becky Douglas, supervisor and sponsor of three orphanages in India, Atlanta, Georgia.
“Dr. Gileadi’s translation [of the Book of Isaiah] is clear and smooth, allowing the reader to appreciate the power and beauty of Isaiah as conveyed in the Hebrew original”—Professor Herbert M. Wolf, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois.
“Gileadi has uncovered an amazing message written in a divine code by the prophet–poet Isaiah. This will give comfort, hope, and joy to masses of people as they cope with the perplexing events now unfolding before their eyes”—Fenton Tobler, thirty years elementary school principle, Las Vegas, Nevada.
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