What does this chapter teach me about God's relationship with His children?
What does this chapter teach me about my Savior?
How can I use the principles and examples from this chapter to improve my own relationship with the Savior and my Heavenly Father?
Additional Questions to Ponder
Reread Verse 2. Have you experienced trials in your life that you feel have been "consecrated for thy gain"? What blessings have you received as a result of your trials?
In verse three, Lehi says to Jacob, "I know that thou art redeemed, because of the righteousness of thy Redeemer..." Why is it significant that we can have hope in redemption because of the righteousness of our Redeemer, rather than our own righteousness? What does this mean to you?
Lehi teaches a beautiful sermon on the Savior and on the Plan of Salvation throughout this entire chapter. What parts strike you as particularly significant or meaningful to you?
Verse 27 is one that really stands out to me. We have our free agency and we need to be so careful what we choose. If we choose to sin we must understand that we are choosing captivity to Satan. When we choose to do what's right we are actually choosing freedom. It really is as simple as that but the World seems very confused about this doctrine. I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon and the simple and understandable teachings found there.
ReplyDeleteI am so grateful for General Conference coming up so I can hear the words of our dear Prophet!
Thanks so much for your thoughts, DeAnn! I really appreciate the assertion in verse three that we are redeemed because of the righteousness of our Redeemer. I think that finding the balance between holding high expectations for ourselves but not falling prey to the false idea that we need to earn our way back into the Father's presence is a very difficult thing to do. It's the balance between feeling Godly sorrow that motivates us to repent and change for good, and feeling discouragement because of our imperfections and our mistakes. There can be a fine line!
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate the Brad Wilcox talk, "His Grace is Sufficient" that has been circulating around lately, which explains that the Atonement is much like a mother paying for her child's piano lessons. The price has been paid. We don't need to pay it, neither can we. However, if we want to make use of the gift and become pianists, we MUST practice. There is no other way. Work - a LOT of hard work and dedication - is necessary to receive the gift in full, which is the gift of becoming pianists. If we understand or even just work to understand how beautiful the gift actually is, we will find joy and gratitude in the daily, sometimes tedious, plunking out of the notes. In that context, the idea that making a mistake would forfeit us from the prospect of ever becoming a pianist is ridiculous. I love that analogy. Wilcox says rather than "earning heaven," we are "learning heaven," as the idea is to express gratitude and become something, not pay something back.
I love the doctrine of the plan of salvation and the blessing of the Atonement. We are so blessed to be here. We are so blessed to be given the sacred privilege to twist and toil through our trials, to sacrifice and better know our Savior through them. Pianists or bust, I say! We can do it, Sisters!