No woman can afford...

Today I am studying D & C 25 which is a revelation received by Joseph Smith to his wife Emma, however in the last verse (16) it says, "And verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my voice unto all. Amen." Although is was received for Emma, it applies to all.

In Doctrine and Covenants 25 verse 2 it reads: "A revelation I give unto you concerning my will; and if thou art faithful and walk in the paths of virtue before me, I will preserve thy life, and thou shalt receive an inheritance in Zion."

This verse caught my eye since recently I was reading about doing the will of the Lord instead of my own will. And I'm currently trying to figure out what the Lord's will is for me.  This verse clearly states what the Lord's will is for us as his children.  This next quote I read in my online Doctrine and Covenants independent study class.

"In very large measure each of us holds the key to the blessings of the Almighty upon us. If we wish the blessing, we must pay the price. A part of that price lies in being faithful. Faithful to what? Faithful to ourselves, to the very best that is within us. No woman can afford to demean herself, to belittle herself, to downgrade her abilities or her capacities. Let each be faithful to the great, divine attributes that are within her. Be faithful to the gospel. Be faithful to the Church. We have all about us those who are seeking to undermine it, to look for weaknesses in its early leaders, to find fault with its programs, to speak critically of it. I give you my testimony that it is the work of God and those who speak against it are speaking against him.

Be faithful to him. He is the one true source of your strength. He is your Father in Heaven. He lives. He hears and answers prayers. Be faithful to God." (Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, Nov. 1984, p. 90; or Conference Report, Oct. 1989, p. 111.)

I love this quote in so many ways:

1)    When he says "No woman can afford to demean herself, to belittle herself, to downgrade her abilities or her capacities."  This fills me with strength to do one the things that I have been struggling to do all these years--Wake early, before kids, and study the scriptures, for one.  I can always find an excuse as to why this won't work on any given day, but it doesn't matter, because I feel like this has been a commandment given to me and regardless of what time my kids fall asleep (11 pm last night) or what time I finally got to bed (12:40 am) I still need that time of peace and quiet to study and hopefully listen to the will of the Lord.  I love how President Hinckley counsels me that I can't afford to downgrade my ability. I am capable of waking that early and studying and the more I do it the more it will be a habit and become easier.  And so I will set my alarm for 5 am again (since my spicy toddler wakes between 6 and 6:30 even when she didn't fall asleep until 11 pm.)  The Lord helped me to wake yesterday when my mom accidentally and unknowingly called me at 5 am my time when she was going into work-an unusual blessing.

2)   To a large degree, we hold the key to blessings from our Father, according to our faithfulness.  I love his perspective on faithfulness. Frequently we discuss faithfulness almost as a check list of commandments.  But he points out that we are to be "Faithful to ourselves, to the very best that is within us."  We ourselves were taught our first lessons in the premortal existence and to those truths that we know in our hearts we are to be faithful.  The very best that is within us is also our divine potential as we are the spirit children of God, our Heavenly Father.  As his children we possess divine qualities and character traits.  And as His children, and through the atonement of Christ we all possess the ability to return to our Heavenly Father, to become like Him.  That is what we need to be faithful to. Those are the things that are the very best within all of us. It's easy, so easy to loose sight of this when the world is constantly putting us down, trying to tell us we are less than, not good enough.  I love that Heavenly Father and His prophet haven't lost sight of our goodness within and our potential.  And gently, they  remind us of who we are to become.  Quite the contrast from the bombardment of noisy lies and misconceptions that come from the world and Satan.  And thus it brings me back to the point that I need to be up in the early morning, reading, and listening to that still small voice to guide me in these truths.

3)   President Hinckley.  This quote comes from President Hinckley.  The prophet that preceeded the current prophet, President Monson.  All prophets are called of God, I know that, but I loved President Hinckley.  And part of the reason why I felt so much love for him was because each time he spoke I felt so much love from him.  Even though he was the prophet for the whole world, all of those millions of people. It felt like he knew me individually.  It felt like he was praying for me.  He had that gift of God, the capacity to love everyone and for me to feel it.  It is how I imagine Christ is.  With so many people that have lived on this earth from Adam to now, Christ is able to know each one of us, individually, he knows what our pains, concerns, weaknesses, strengths, and desires are. Christ loves us and we can feel it.  President Hinckley was a great example to me of this Christ-like love.  So when President Hinckley says, "Be faithful to him. He is the one true source of your strength. He is your Father in Heaven. He lives. He hears and answers prayers. Be faithful to God."  I believe it, even when my faith is weak, because I feel that love from him and I know that it comes from God.

Check out my next posting on "And Walk in the Paths of Virtue" (D & C 25:2).