As a Child of God

            A young kitten grows to become cat, a young cub to an adult bear. It would make sense that if we were truly the children of God that we would have the potential to become like God. This one truth changes one’s outlook on life, struggles, happiness, time; everything changes with this single important truth.

            And yet, so few understand their potential to become like their Father. They can be like God in every way, from attitude and manner, to emotions and power, the concept of a Father and a Child is very much evident in our spiritual sense as it is in the physical world.

            But how could we understand this truth with out first knowing our Father? And having an example to look toward is necessary to becoming similar to that example. But where is God? Where is our Example of perfection and God-like behavior?

            There are two suggestions I offer, they coincide carefully but are distinctly different.

            We first can seek to have a relationship with the example we follow before attaining and working on the attributes they possess. The first person we may follow is God himself. We can build a relationship with him through prayer and speaking with him. Your prayers can be a conversation if you give Him time to speak. You can learn from the scriptures the lessons He has taught and what His attitude, even personality is.

            You will find a loving, kind, gracious Father in those words. But also one with direction and counsel. You will find times of rebuke and critique, but always with a loving touch for the one it is given. It will be the same with your own life as you seek guidance from our Father in Heaven.

            The other example is the supreme Example of a Child of God. In a family often children will look to the parents for an example, but many will also look to the oldest child for direction on how to act.

            Christ is our elder brother and can serve a perfect example of being a Child of God. He was perfectly obedient to all the Father’s commandments; he served those around him, taught with the spirit. But notice the details of His time on earth, he was born a helpless babe, taught and raised by an earthly mother and father who taught him of God, he soon built a relationship with His Father in Heaven, learning from Him by the Spirit. He constantly prayed, offered up prayers of gratitude and pleading for those around him. He sought ways to help others, to lead them to build the same relationship He had with the Father. In His glory, He receives all the Father has.

            We are not Christ, but similar to Him, we each are sons and daughters of God. He is our Father, and as a perfect Father, desires to teach and help us, but also to direct us. And we can become like him. Our potential to do so comes from our very nature as His children. He loves you. He seeks after you. He wants to hear from you, hear your prayers and help guide and uplift you through this life. And you can be like Him.

http://reflectionsofmissionary.tumblr.com/

http://reflectionsofamissionary.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Reflections-of-a-Missionary/265094253645213

@MishReflections

@kenttbates

There are people you love, and people you don’t yet know.

            A missionary shared this in a district meeting early on in my mission, and it changed my mission and afterward, my life. Even since being home this has come into circumstance over and over again as I look at the teams and groups I am a part of at school, work, everything.

            Specifically though I want to take a look at this in terms of missionaries themselves. I think it is almost natural with the Spirit to guide us that we feel a love begin to swell in us as we teach someone. We begin to understand their past, their hopes and desires, what they do now, how it affects their future, we love them and offer the best thing we have, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

            But now missionaries. This includes companions, leaders, district and zone members, maybe even ward and branch members. I remember multiple times on my own mission where I knew I didn’t love my companion. This turned out to be one of the greatest blessings for me in my life, because I was able to practice this statement out: there are people you love, and people you don’t yet know.

            I think by definition there are some people we, gently put, don’t work as well with as others, am I right? Maybe you’re in a companionship that is kinda tense, a leader doesn’t understand your situation, or a district member or companionship wont work. Whatever the case is, this quote applies. I don’t remember how many times I realized that I knew more about my investigators than my companion. There were quite a few awkward moments as we would be teaching and didn’t plan that, or meeting with members and I would wonder where he got that habit or saying, and some thing should just drive me insane. I put up a block and our companionship started to crumble because for both of us, we refused to see beyond the person we saw every day.

            In one case, I found myself with a hardworking, diligent, obedient companion. It was early on in my mission, I was fired up, ready to roll, wanting to work, and so we had that working for us. We disagreed on a couple small things, nothing crazy, but it exploded on when we wanted to go running, we had a little flexibility as to working out in the morning or after coming in for the night before bed. I found that I had been so stubborn on some things that we had begun to separate even beyond this one subject. It seems childish, and it was.

            This is how we fixed it, and how you can with any relationship:

We sat down and got to know each other. We talked about our pasts, our mistakes, and our aspirations. We discussed our hopes for the mission, our dreams and vision for who we wanted to be at the end, what we wanted to do when we got back. After that, things were great. We had gotten to a point where we understood each other enough to anticipate each others sentences, we studied harder, worked harder, we pushed each other how we knew the other would respond, because we understood each other.

            I grew to love this companion. The experience and countless others taught me so much beyond just how to teach investigators, tract, find, talk with members. It taught me to love. Simply the love you have to have, it Christ’s love, and the reason Christ can love you perfectly, and anyone perfectly is because he knows you perfectly. Every decision, every thought, hope, discouragement, he knows, and because of that he loves you and knows how to help you.

            With any companion, investigators, leader, member, begin here: with an understanding of who they are. Not only will that communicate your genuine love for them but it will also build a trust in you as a servant of God, because you are doing exactly what Christ does with us, we are able to turn to Him because he listens, because he helps, guides, teaches.

            May you listen, question, remember, understand, may you love.

There are people you love, and people you don’t yet know.