Following the Savior’s Example

We often hear “What would Jesus do?” But do we really understand the question?

Jesus Christ taught and set examples of attributes and in 3 Nephi 12:48 he tell us “Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.”  What does this mean?  Do we have to be perfect in this lifetime?  I sure hope not or I am in real trouble.  I think this means that we need to do our best to follow the example that he has set.

President Howard W. Hunter said “I would invite all members of the Church to live with ever more attention to the life and example of the Lord Jesus Christ, especially the love and hope and compassion He displayed.”

Jesus Christ was our exemplar and now we must try to be an exemplar to the rest of the world.  President Hunter also teaches that Jesus was capable of sin but he knew the plan of salvation and he did not succumb to Satan and his temptations. He goes on to explain that this had to be so or there would have been no real test and no true victory.  

If Jesus did not have this ability he would not have had is free agency. 

Jesus Christ focused his life on service to others in doing this he taught us – diligence, obedience, humility, patience, knowledge, virtue, charity, hope, gratitude and faith.  Now while I know that I cannot heal the sick as he did, raise someone from the dead, or feed the many with only a few loaves of bread and fish.  I can take care of someone who is ill or suffering. I can comfort and morn with those who have lost a loved one.  I can donate and collect food for the food bank and other organizations who feed the many.

I can teach the children, I love the paintings and sketches of the Savior hold and teaching the children.  I can always feel his love for them.  In 3 Nephi 17:11 “… he commanded that their little children should be brought.”  The scriptures go onto say that the things that he taught them were so great and marvelous and that no one could conceive the joy which filled their souls and then he took the little children one by one and blessed them and the angels descended out of heaven and encircled the little one and they ministered unto them.  We must teach our children from the time they are very young.  Jesus set this example.  But we must remember that we must teach by example not just by what we say.  Words without action are just words!

President Hunter also teaches “Christ’s supreme sacrifice can find full fruition in our lives only as we accept the invitation to follow him [see D&C 100:2]. This call is not irrelevant, unrealistic, or impossible. To follow an individual means to watch him or listen to him closely; to accept his authority, to take him as a leader, and to obey him; to support and advocate his ideas; and to take him as a model. Each of us can accept this challenge. Peter said, “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps” (1 Pet. 2:21). Just as teachings that do not conform to Christ’s doctrine are false, so a life that does not conform to Christ’s example is misdirected, and may not achieve its high potential destiny.”

Can we become like the Savior all at once?  Of course not, be we can decide today that we will work to become more like the Savior each day.  This four weeks, I am working on my attribute of gratitude.  I have been working on this attribute for three weeks now and I have definitely noticed a change in my prayers and my thoughts.  I notice more and more how it is easier to work on one attribute at a time and really make it a part of my life and then how the one I have already worked on becomes stronger also.  I have one more week to work on gratitude and I can already see how thinking with a more grateful outlook has made changes in my day and the way I see the world around me.

Storehouse of Faith

What would I do if the government made it illegal for me to go to my church?  Do I have enough faith to remain strong for a long period of time?  Do I have the conviction to go and visit my brothers and sisters and have small gatherings in my home, knowing that I might be arrested if I do these things?  Would I be strong enough in my faith that I could with stand the questioning of my friends and others?  When people tell me that my beliefs are wrong could I defend what I know is true?

This very thing happened in Ghana in 1989.  The Saints there tell the story of their 18 months while the church doors remained locked and guarded.  Several of them were arrested and held in jail for several days because they admitted and were proud to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  They remained strong, supported each other, this trying time seemed to bring out the best in them.  How is this possible?  Wouldn’t their lives have been so much easier if they just turned their backs on the church?

Like so many things in the history of the Book of Mormon and the church, we will have trials but I think the difference is what we have done before those trials.  Have we built up our “Storehouse of Faith”? So then the question becomes do I have enough faith to joyfully endure to the end?

In 1997, Elder Neal A. Maxwell “For I Will Lead You Along” talks about how as the church grows and strengthens, so will Satan’s power.  He then goes on the say “Happily, even though the world worsens around us, there will be many, many fine and wonderful men and women of all races and creeds—and of no religious creeds at all—who will continue to lead decent and useful lives. Besides, as Mormon said, scriptural commentary on declining conditions is not communicated “to weigh thee down,” but, instead, to help us live so that Christ may “lift thee up” Moroni. 9:25

He continues by saying that what he is saying should not be an alarm, but he is saying this so that we “might be noticing and preparing. Prophecies are given, in part, that we “might know and remember” that these things “had been made known … beforehand, to the intent that [we] might believe”  Helaman 16:5. Today’s inattentive people will be like an earlier, desensitized people who “began to forget those signs and wonders which they had heard, and began to be less and less astonished, … and began to disbelieve all which they had heard and seen”  3 Nephi 2:1”

In his October 2004 Conference Address “Where Do I Make My Stand?” President Faust asked, “So where should each of us make our stand?”  He goes on to explain that “As we demonstrate our devotion to God by our daily acts of righteousness, He can know where we stand.”

In Helaman 3:35 we read how the believing and humble part of the Nephites fasted and prayed often and that they grew “stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in their faith of Christ,” this filled their souls with joy and purified their hearts and they yielded “their hearts to God”.  This is how we will build up our “Storehouse of Faith”.  It is hard to be humble, Satan and the natural man have different ideas, but our spirits can be so much stronger if we too yield our hearts to God. 

So, is my storehouse full enough?  Well, I think that it takes a lifetime to fill our storehouse. That’s why we are here, right? But am I doing the best that I can?  I try each day to do a little better than the last. Through this great Pathway program that I am privileged to be a part of this year I am focusing on specific Christ-like attributes that are helping me make changes in my life for the better.  The last four weeks I worked on faith and saw how my faith and knowledge have grown.  I still have a long way to go but I am more aware of what I need to do, now onto the next Christ-like attribute!!