For if ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you;
But if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Moreover, when ye fast be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face;
That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal;
But lay up yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
For where you treasure is, there will your heart be also.
What I've gotten out of these verses is that Heavenly Father wants us to do the things we do for the right reasons. We need to obtain testimonies of even the simplest doctrines because when we are faced with the decisions of what to choose and how to act we must have the integrity to choose the right. The things we believe to be right are the things that we'll choose.
"Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also." --> Our hearts are with what we esteem to be valuable. If we believe our family to be valuable we spend time with them and treat them well. If money of success is more worthwhile then we follow that. When we are faced with contradictory decisions I believe we ultimately follow what we believe to be most important. Where our heart leads us. Where our treasure is.
Heavenly Father doesn't want us to do things for show. I mean, if it gets us doing something good then by all means, but we are blessed more when we do something good for the right reasons.
Forgiveness is something that we need to do for the right reasons. It releases us from a burden that we don't have the right to carry. Someone else already carried it for us.
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While I was on the bus the other day I didn't have my ipod or anything to do really, so I read my scriptures on my phone and actually had thought processes! Amazing what happens when technology doesn't get in the way of thinking. :) So I wrote some thoughts that I was thinking in response to Helaman chapter 3 in the Book of Mormon:
It's not the church of God that becomes prideful but the people of the church of God. This can lead to corruption and people believing that the church itself is not true or perfect when in reality that is false. People are flawed. Even the prophet today has weaknesses though it's hard to believe. Christ was the only perfect being. So we have no right to judge others based on their imperfections, and we especially don't have the right to judge the church of Jesus Christ. We are lucky He allows imperfect people to become members of His church so we can learn to be more like Him.
The Nephites and Lamanites struggled with this too. Things we going well, then they started becoming jealous of one another...maybe they didn't like the leaders or the other people who went to church or feel that they didn't fit in for whatever reason. They wanted to be unique in their own way but felt pressures to confine to the standards someone else placed on them. There are times when I have felt that my individuality is being limited because of something I'm not supposed to do. But in the end does that really matter? I am an individual. I am unique. I do try and follow the rules as well. And it works for me. I know it would work for any single person who decided to try it instead of blaming what they "can't" do on the church and the rules it gives us. We can all be individuals, follow the things that CHRIST (not man) want us to do, make sacrifices, and get bigger blessings in the end. I'd rather listen to the prophet when he tells me to respect my body and not get more ear piercings (I use this as a mild example) even though I would like to, and as a result now that I'm doing what Heavenly Father wants me to do. It's His plan and it's His reward and approval I'm looking for. Not my own. Not societies. Much easier said than done most of the time, but it makes me feel better when I do it His way.
I've wanted to go to the temple for awhile now. It's easy to not make the time. I didn't go during the last month of so of school in Provo...using excuses such as I didn't have my car anymore, I was about to graduate and busy with finals, working 2 jobs. A little busy. All reasonable things and such, but that kept getting longer. Came to Australia and kept wondering when I was going to go. Again, don't have a car so I have to take the bus of get a ride. Which day should I go? Saturday is explore day and the temple closes so early anyway...excuses EXCUSES. Finally I had a ride set to go, then I Was all ready and found out they couldn't go anymore. It's amazing how much desire I had to go and how disappointed I was that I couldn't. I wanted it!!! And knew that I desperately needed that familiarity that I've been missing here all by myself. So I made it happen anyway. The relief was incredible, the spirit strong. There's an example of when you do what the Lord wants you to do and you make things happen, you get the reward of happiness. The thing we all want anyway.
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