So I had a really amazing experience in seminary. I would like to call it an...epiphany. I'm not sure if that's what it was. But we can pretend. See, the epiphany was about something that I already knew about. It wasn't some new revelation. It was just like a sudden understanding of how it fit in with everything else. I can't really explain it. I've really only had this experience twice before. And both times, some people that I told kind of disregarded it. I guess they didn't quite understand the impact the two experiences had on me or quite understand what I was trying to say. So I'm going to clarify. I knew this before. It's something I'm sure all of us have heard, and understand. But it was just like my eyes were opened just a little bit wider and I understood it a little bit more fully. I don't know, maybe everyone else already knows this and I'm just crazy. But I felt impressed to share it, and I'm going to share it to the best of my ability. It's going to be a little hard, because what I learned was done by the spirit, not really by words. And words aren't my forte. So warning, this will be a long post, because it will probably take many words to try to explain everything.
Alright. So in seminary we were talking about the Gospel and what it is and stuff. (We were studying in 3 Nephi 27, by the way.) In a nutshell, we discussed that it's centered on Christ and the Atonement. It brings us eternal life/happiness. So I was writing in my journal about something like how the small and simple things can end up determining our happiness - either eternal joy, or a season of joy. And of course, as I wrote season of joy, the song Seasons of Love popped into my head. At first I just kind of laughed to myself. Only with me would a song randomly pop into my head during seminary. But then, it kind of hit me. Love. That's what the Gospel is. That's what Christ was all about. Christ is love.
Where does our love lie? Do we love the world more than we love the Lord? Or do we love the Lord more than the world and its pleasures and recognitions? Only our actions determine this. In Moroni 10:32 it says:
"And if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind, and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you..."
Christ said that the most important commandment is to love God. We need to love God. Loving Him gives us our eternal salvation, which = eternal happiness. When we love God, we'll do all that He asks of us. We'll WANT to do what He asks of us. It all comes down to our seasons of love. Does our love only last a season? It will if our love lies on the world. Because the world only gives back that love for a season. The worldly things are not eternal. The love that the world seems to reciprocate back is a very flimsy love. It's only but a fleeting moment. But God's love is eternal. Put your love in God. If you love God, then it won't last only a season. Instead it will grow. Each season, your love for God will grow. And each season, you'll feel God's love more.
Where is your love? Is is with this man?
The man who carries you in His arms when you don't have strength to carry on? Is it with this man?
The man who sees us like no other person could? The man who has an infinite love for us, and is our Father? Is it with this man?
The man who suffered unimaginable pain for you. Who knows you personally? Is it with this man?
The man who speaks for Christ? The man who guides and directs the church - with love? Where is your love? What are your seasons of love like?
How do you measure the life of a woman or man? How about love.
1 comment:
Beth! First of all, I love you and you are one amazing girl!! And second of all, I do have those epiphany moments. I feel like I have them all of the time. They can bring two and two together or it can be something that you've already known, but just suddenly have a better understanding of or it suddenly reaches a tender place in your heart. I love those moments! Hold on to them and always write down what they are!!!
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