Saturday, July 21, 2012

Day 21: Scripture Challenge

Today I read "Love Takes Time," by Marvin J. Ashton, a former member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

This talk is based on the idea that words are not enough to show our love. Ongoing actions over time are what bless others and ourselves and what define true love.

As I've thought about the nudge God has given me toward love, I've considered the various applications of this inspiration. Does He want me to work on the way I show Matt love? Should I improve my relationships with family members? Friends? Do I need to learn to love everyone? Any one of these could be a serious and time-consuming project for personal growth. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) He think I means all of the above.

While I could easily make a ridiculously detailed and ambitious list of goals out of any one of the above-mentioned applications of this inspiration, I don't think I need to. When I was on my mission I spent several months studying and trying to develop the Christ-like attributes mentioned in Preach My Gospel. As I did this, I noticed that they were all interrelated and as I worked to develop one attribute, I automatically improved in the rest. I am beginning to believe that this has application to many gospel topics.

I'm still studying love and allowing the spirit to guide me toward the application that God would like me to focus on, but I believe the others will naturally improve as I work on one.

Spoiler: I think I'm being led toward loving those I have a difficult time loving, or loving everyone. I am beginning to change the way I think about people and trying to discover people's gifts rather than their faults.


1 comment:

Christina said...

I <3 you too!!! and I'm gonna read that talk now. :)