I don't know why I'm exactly doing this, but I'm going to repost one of my first posts that I blogged about almost a year ago.
I think it's wonderful, and I would like more people to read this.
Feel free to leave comments on the original post, too:
http://amazinglatter-day.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html
I've come to realize how difficult it is to uphold church standards, and how easy it is to slip into temptation and sin.
Everyone's trials and weaknesses are different, but a weakness of mine is school.
Now, its not school itself. I can tell you that Algebra isn't tempting me towards sin. I'm talking about the people that are in the school.
Every single day I am presented with immodesty, vulgar language, drugs, sexual references, and more. I find it somewhat hard to concentrate on schoolwork, and its hard not to let these temptations influence me.
I've found a few things that help me stay on the straight and narrow path, without wandering off:
- Pray,
- Read my Patriarchal Blessing,
- Listen to church hymns/EFY music,
- Read the scriptures.
One thing I do is pray.
After I've done that, I preoccupy my mind by thinking of good things- my future, what new products Apple will announce, what my schedule will be like after school, and other things like that.
Its just a fact that living in this world is troublesome. We came here knowing that we would face great trials and difficulties, but also knowing that we would be blessed beyond our knowledge if we strive to live the Gospel.
My seminary teacher recently reflected on the Great and Spacious Building. Some people weren't exactly doing pure evil things- they were being human. I learned that being human won't get you far in the next life. We may find joy and think that our lives are going perfect, and that we don't need to worry about going to church or keeping standards of the Church in our lives. But this kind of joy is only temporal. Being human doesn't prepare us to live once again with our Heavenly Father.
We need to become extraordinary beings, we need to live higher than the world's standards, and we need to excel beyond being human. Being human is not good enough, and we drift away from what we really should be focusing on in this life.
I also find it annoying when other people discover that I'm LDS, and don't want to understand what we believe in, but rather put words in our mouth and tell us what we do and don't do for us.
People often say, "Wow, his religion is stricter than ours!" or "I forgot that you can't do anything, you're a Mormon."
I don't find that my standards hold me back at all. They lift me up above the ordinary, above the crowd. How are things like not being able to go to parties on Sunday a restriction? The only thing that it restricts me against is living below my standards. It doesn't restrict me on ever having fun. I found that our 'restrictions' don't hold us back, they push us forward. We are able to focus on bigger, better things, compared to living in the world's standards and living as a human.
I hope that everyone that reads this will be inspired to live above the standards that are so prevalent in the world today. I challenge you to identify what your weaknesses are, and find your own ways to help defeat those weaknesses that threaten our spiritual lives.
I hope and that we can live as extraordinary beings, and not as just humans. If can live above what the world views as their standards, I promise that we will be greatly blessed by living a more spiritual life.
I would like to leave with a quote from one of my most influential people, Gordon B. Hinckley, who once said, "...when good men and good women face challenges with optimism, things will always work out! Truly, things will work out! Despite how difficult circumstances may look at the moment, those who have faith and move forward with a happy spirit will find that things always work out."
I believe that things will always work out, no matter what the circumstance.
Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave comments with your thoughts.
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