VISITING TEACHING MESSAGE The Attributes of Jesus
Christ: Long-suffering and Patient
Faith, Family, Relief
This is part of a series of Visiting Teaching Messages featuring
attributes of the Savior.
Patience is often thought of as a quiet, passive trait, but as
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First
Presidency, said, “Patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to
act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means
staying with something … even when the desires of our hearts are delayed.
Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!”
In our premortal life, our Heavenly Father prepared a plan for
us—His spirit children—and we shouted for joy at the opportunity to come to
earth (see Job 38:7). As we choose to align our will with His
during our earthly life, He “will make an instrument of [us] in [His] hands
unto the salvation of many souls” (Alma 17:11).
President Uchtdorf continued, “Patience means accepting that
which cannot be changed and facing it with courage, grace, and faith. It means
being ‘willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon
[us], even as a child doth submit to his father’ [Mosiah 3:19]. Ultimately, patience means being ‘firm
and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord’ [1 Nephi 2:10] every hour of every day, even when
it is hard to do so.”1
Additional Scriptures
From the Scriptures
The
scriptures tell us that in our earthly life, we should “be patient in
afflictions, for [we shall] have many.” God then gives us this comforting
promise, “Endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days”
(D&C 24:8).
The
following Bible story is an example of patience and
faith.
“And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years … touched the
border of [Christ’s] garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched
[stopped].
“And Jesus said, … Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that
virtue is gone out of me.
“And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came
trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the
people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
“And he
said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go
in peace” (Luke 8:43–48).
Like
her, we can find blessings and comfort, and even healing, as we reach out to Jesus
Christ—whose Atonement can heal us.
Consider This
From
the account in Luke 8, how was this woman’s years of patience and then her
faith in Jesus
Christrewarded?
“In-between Tears”
cji
3/1/15
Doing all am able to
do
expecting to reach
deeper
into a well of
understanding
striving to be like
Jesus
unable to be so
perfect
thus tears flowing
freely
putting all I’ve on
the line
each and every time
called by the
whisperings
promptings of what to
do
in-between tears
smiles
knowing my Savior’s
love
longsuffering and
patient
with one such as me!
Copyright © 2015 –
cji
No comments:
Post a Comment