Our lesson for Thursday was the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount.
These chapters are full of teachings by the Savior meant for us. He is trying to teach us to put off our mortal selves and become more like Him. If we could live each of these teachings we would be so happy and blessed because the closer we live our lives to the Savior the more the spiritual strength we will have in our lives.
The Savior talked about salt that has lost its savor...that means it has been contaminated or become dirty. Then He states,"It is therefore good for nothing!"
So my question is what kinds of things today contaminate our lives? What kinds of things will make it so we lose our "purpose" for the Lord? One of the students in our class is a Chemistry major. He likened it to "contamination" in the lab. He told us that the test could not be performed if any part had been contaminated. (Therefore good for nothing) But he said, often they could go back and boil it or distill it to purify the contaminates away. He likened that process to us repenting and using the Atonement to distill our lives to purify our souls--getting rid of the sins in our lives.
We talked about forgiveness. President Faust taught: "Our natural response (to injuries inflicted by others) is anger. We may even feel justified in wanting to 'get even' with anyone who inflicts injury on us or our family." Forgiveness frees us of the emotions the devil uses to control us. The Atonement can erase pain, sadness, revenge anger, and spite. I believe in the healing power of the Atonement in our lives. I have been blessed to feel my heart healed and my spirit cleansed as I prayed sincerely for help.
When the Savior said "Be ye therefore perfect.." I learned that the term perfect was translated from the Greek teleios, which means complete...the infinitive form of the verb means "to reach a distant end, to be "fully developed, or to finish." It does not imply freedom from errors! Yay! Perfection can come in full only after the Resurrection and only through the Lord!
It is an important principle or doctrine to realize that we glorify our Father in Heaven when we set a righteous example for others to follow, but we do not have to be "perfect".
We had a great day today!
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