Adversity

As I was reading these scriptures, I felt like I was reading a "Greatest Hits" list as far as scriptures go. Some of the great ones such as Romans 8:35, Alma 7:11, and D&C 122:7 are all ones that have spoken strongly to me in the past when I've been going through difficult times. All of these are good, but I want to pull out some specific ones in hope of answering some big questions.

Why are there bad things in the first place?

I'm sure most people have asked this. If there was a God that we claimed loved us so much, why would he let us suffer? You never really see a loving mother leave their child outside in the snow, so why does God let some people freeze to death when he could send down a pillar of fire to warm them or even better just change the weather? I think it is because there needs to be extremes in this life of good and bad, wicked and righteous, ease and horror, in order to get out of this life what God (and we) want. The scripture that goes with this is 2 Nephi 2:11:

11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.

Why does God let bad things happen?

What is important to remember is that in most cases God is not causing whatever is happening. The choices of others or ourselves is usually the cause of the bad things that happen is our lives. One of the most precious gifts God has given us is the ability to make choices, and so sacred is that ability that God lets our choices ride out - for the consequence of good or evil we all have to finish our own mortal experience so we can then be judged on those choices. An example is in The Book of Mormon when wicked unbelievers decided it would be fun to throw all the believing women and children into a bonfire and make the captured prophet watch. One scripture that goes with this is Alma 14:11:

11 But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day.

God also allows bad things to happen because he expects us to take the experience and use it to grow. The saying is that gold and silver must be put into the fire in order to reach their true potential as pure and precious metals and I believe that the same process applies to us. The scripture that goes with this is D&C 122:7:

7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

Why does God lift burdens?

He lifts the burden for the same reason he allows the burden to be places upon us - to become better people. If there is something to learn through enduring to the end there is also something to learn about experiencing a heart full of gratitude. The scripture that goes with this is Mosiah 24:14:

14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

How we can survive these adversities?

The answer is Christ. Grace is defined at "the enabling power of God." By grace we are saved is absolutely true - because through Christ's atonement we are given power to be stronger than whatever we face, to not let it break us. Christ takes away the burden and effects of sin, but the atonement was also for broken hearts and spirits. One scripture that explains this concept is Alma 7:11-12:

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

No matter what we face, Christ can't be taken from us. As long as we're reaching out to him, his power and grace are extended towards us. The scripture that goes with this is Romans 8:38-39:

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I guess the bottom line is that I don't know why bad things happen anymore than the next person. We can guess and reason it out, especially after the fact, but the truth of the matter is that we're not going to know why things happen until after it is all over. What is important isn't the "why did this happen", what is important is "what sort of person am I becoming?"

Adversary

Topics without scriptures: Advent.

According to dictinoary.com, an adversary is:

a person, group, or force that opposes or attacks; opponent;enemy; foe.

In the case of the conflict between good and evil, Satan is the ultimate adversary. The story of where he came from begins before the creation of the world. We were all there as spirit children of God, but forever stuck as being nothing more. Then God presented a plan where we could come to Earth, get bodies and participate in life thereby learning good and evil and progressing towards our eternal potential. However, Satan rejected God's plan and suggested a new on instead, where we would come to Earth and we would get bodies, but that we would not have the ability to choose and would all be forced to be good people. This way everyone would be saved because no one would ever be given the opportunity to sin. The catch was that all the glory and honor had to go to him instead of to God. Christ then stepped up and offered that he would provide the ultimate sacrifice in the atonement so none would be lost as well if they chose to follow God, having all the glory and honor go to the Father. God chose Christ and Satan and 1/3 of the hosts of heaven were cast out because they couldn't accept this plan and went as far as rebelling against God.

When we talk about The Adversary, we are talking about a being that is so against God's plan that he will destroy us if he could. Or as Peter said in 1 Peter 5:8 he is:

8... as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Or as Nephi put it in 2 Nephi 2:18:

18 And because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind...

Satan is miserable. He will never get a body, never have a family, never have a spouse or children, never know peace, never know love. He has no special feelings towards anyone, he is no one's ally. If you are on this Earth it is because you did not chose to join his cause, and that is all he cares about. He knows that he can no win the war and that God will permanently cast him out in the end, but this does not keep him from trying to destroy as many of us as he can before the end. We are not people, we are numbers. When God is fighting for us, he wants to live with us each individually for eternity and sees a future with our faces in it. All that Satan sees is a figurative spiritual coffin, closed and ready for burial. Just like every other coffin without a face or individuality. Just the way he always wanted us.

How do we stay safe? The answer is in 1 Nephi 15:24:

24 And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction.

Advantage

Sometimes I wonder what advantage I have in being part of this religion. There is the obvious logical reasons you can list off: authority of the priesthood, baptism, my family being sealed together forever. But something that has really bothered me is when people talk about their first interaction with Mormons as "You were just so happy all the time and I wanted that."

As I've mentioned in other posts, I have a problem with depression. I'm not a happy positive person all the time and I'm sure my roommates from college can tell you how deeply I felt it whenever "drama" occurred. In other words, I've never really felt like I've lived up to this ideal of a constantly happy person.

Keeping all this in mind, this topic has shed some light on why I should feel more upbeat about my situation.

In Romans 3:1 it reads:

1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?

Or in other words, just because you are a part of something doesn't mean that you instantly get all the good stuff associated with it. I'm Mormon and for all I know and understand I really should be happy or at least on the positive end of neutral all the time. I also know from the scriptures that it is expected and normal to have seasons where I'm on the edge of falling apart, but as far as day to day experiences there should be a slight spring in my step and smile on my face.

1 Corinthians 15:32 has a great reason for why I should be happy:

32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.

I have something to look forward to! Every day I get to pray to the God of the universe - I'm going to be with my family forever - I know where I'm going and I know that the choices I make matter. There is no "live for today, forget about tomorrow" philosophy in my life because honestly I don't need it. I have purpose.

2 Corinthians 2:11 is more sobering:

11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

In the realm of modern spiritual thought, little is really said about Satan and his reality. I've heard it said over the pulpit repeatedly to never underestimate him. Before he fell he was with us, he knew us and now that we're on this Earth without any memory of before he has an advantage. But so do we, we know of him and we know where our power to overcome him is - in our Savior Jesus Christ.

Lastly, Jude 1:16 gives warning against those who let this idea of having an advantage go to their heads:

16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.

In the last World Wide General Conference of the Church, one of the Apostles Elder Uchtdorf quoted a past leader in saying that we should be grateful for all the kindness and praise we receive but that we should never inhale it. Maybe thinking less of myself is a problem and maybe even a sin, but thinking too highly and throwing my life onto imaginary idols of advantage will lead me to become a person like the one Jude described.

Maybe when I'm 70 and cute and old I'll be one of those people who is always happy. Until then, I'll count my blessings and the good realities that are in my life.

Adulterer, Adultery

Several years ago I was happily dating a boy who was of another Christian denomination. We were happy and in love and things were going just dandy - until one day he pulled out of no where that he wanted to dump me because I wasn't the "right" kind of Christian for him. I'm guilty also of pulling that card when deciding who to date, but his reasoning for his conclusion was really harsh. One of his main points was pulled from Matthew 5:28 where it reads:

28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

He explained to me that by dating me he was committing adultery because he felt strong feelings of attraction for me. This communication resulted in two results: making an innocent girl unjustly feel like a harlot; and making said innocent girl actually look into what this scripture actually meant.

I knew that every adolescent who had hormones was not condemned. I also knew that the Prophet of our church encouraged dating, so having feelings of attraction for another is ok. But if all that was true, what did Christ really mean when he said this?

I got my answer in Doctrine and Covenants 63:16:

16 And verily I say unto you, as I have said before, he that looketh on a woman to lust after her, or if any shall commit adultery in their hearts, they shall not have the Spirit, but shall deny the faith and shall fear.

Christ wasn't talking about a natural feeling of attraction for someone else, he was talking about pre-medidating thoughts about sexual activity. In other words, Christ was condemning pornography. He was condemning putting your mind places where the Spirit can't reside, in cutting yourself off from God by making yourself inwardly in-pure.

I once heard a story of a missionary who was being harassed by some less than savory guys about how this missionary abstained from sexual activity. When they concluded that he must not have a problem with it because he didn't have the ability to have those feelings, he responded, "I have them just the same as anyone. I'm just stronger than the feelings and can control them."

In Alma 39:5, a loving father/prophet is counseling his son after this son had sexually sinned. He emphasized the seriousness of this act by saying:

5 Know ye not, my son, that these things are an abomination in the sight of the Lord; yea, most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost?

There are two parts of our Earthly existence that God has claimed the right of controlling, those are when his children come to Earth and when they leave. He has given us the privilege of having the ability to joint create life with him, and he will not have that privilege mocked. This is why Chastity is so constantly drilled into us. In terms of adultery, when you commit it you are not only breaking a convenient with God and mocking the gift of marriage he has given us, you also break a covenant with another person and mock them. It is probably one of the most selfish sins we could possibly commit in this life.

Adorn, Adorning

When my husband and I were engaged, we were reading through different books of scripture together. We would randomly pick a book and then read through it and one of those books was Timothy. Well, we actually didn't get that far, because I felt uncomfortable by how sexist his sermons were. Apparently this, along with most of the other books in the New Testament, was a letter written to a specific people speaking about a specific problem during a specific time period and though it has some general truth it is not to be taken as complete doctrine. I like to think that God had a greater purpose and plan for his daughters and it was the world and society that wasn't ready for it yet. It makes me think of what amazing truths God is waiting to give us now only we aren't ready for it yet either.

Why I bring this up is because all three scriptures have to do with how the saints should be living, specifically how the women should dress modestly. Maybe I'm not quite onboard with the whole idea of women being these meek and obedient servants to their husbands, but I do agree with modesty in appearance and personality. Modesty shows control and restraint in a person, no one likes a loud and annoying person yammering in their face. It also shows respect for your body. That doesn't mean not to dress attractively, but it does mean not to show off.

One summer in college I had a huge crush on a boy I was friends with. However, this other girl swooped in and became his girlfriend. This girl was really pretty, kind of boring, and wore low tank tops and really short skirts. I was complaining to another guy friend of mine how I didn't stand a chance against someone who looked so great and he said, "short skirts may be hot, but they are not attractive." Coming from a college guy I felt like he was telling me some truth that most guys would never admit - that though they went after the girls who showed more skin and were really flashy, it wasn't actually what they wanted in the long run.

It was/is hard to try and dress the part of "the girl you would bring home to your parents" as opposed to the exciting "good enough for dancing at the clubs" - you have to work harder to find clothes in stores and you have to deal with constantly comparing yourself to these amazing looking women and the way guys fall over them without even knowing their name. They have power. But it isn't the kind of power that will last.

There is a power in modesty that builds your character, helping you to develop into a nice person. It takes the focus off of what you can see and looks more into what you do to make the world better. There is strength in this that I didn't fully realize I had during those tough teenage years, but looking back I can see now that I was making an impact. I fully believe that it began with how I chose to present myself to others.

Adoption

The scriptures speak about two types of adoption - those being adopted into the house of Israel and being adopted by Christ through his atonement. We are all children of God the Father, but when Christ paid for our sins he takes on the responsibility for us and our actions just like a real parents is responsible for their children.

This topic has really shown to mean how important it is to have a prophet. While reading these scriptures, I saw about thirteen different ways you could interpret them to mean a wide range of doctrines. I get frustrated when I don't know what the scriptures are talking about, and I think if I was reading them without the foundation I have I probably would have pulled out all my hair.

Admonish

It seems that every lesson held on Sunday follows a patter of instruction, then admonishment, then testimony. The instruction section is the lesson and story in the scriptures, the admonishment section is drawing the principle out of the lesson and asking for a commitment from the class and the teacher to internalize this principle. The end with testimony is for strengthening those so they can accomplish the change just proposed to them.

In the scriptures it talks about the saints of God admonishing each other when it comes to sin. I've heard stories of people going up to others and telling them as lovingly as they can that they need to shape up. I know it is done with the best of intensions, but it seems that seven out of ten people respond negatively.

The interesting thing about this list of scriptures is that even though sin is mentioned the focus is really on different ways to lift each other. In Colossians 3:16 it talks about singing with and to each other. In Mosiah 26:39 it talks about giving thanks to God. Maybe if things are really bad we could say something to each other about being good Saints, but we are not to become judgmental in the process. We're all sinners and we can only lift up our neighbor when the challenge to change is admonished to our own hearts as much as theirs.