Be Holy

"Ye shall be holy; for I am holy."  (Leviticus 11:44)

32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. 

33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.  (Moroni 10: 32-33)

Everything that is of the Lord is holy.  If we are to be the Lord’s people, our ultimate goal is therefore to be holy.  That is a goal that takes time and effort.  It requires a change of heart, putting off the natural man and becoming spiritual in thought, word and deed.  Even our desires will be changed as we consciously attempt to become holy.    

In order to reach this lofty goal, we must have a clear understanding of what it means and then be completely and consistently committed to advancing toward that state.  To be holy means to belong to God or to conform to His will.  In scripture we read of holy prophets, holy lands, holy objects - especially those used in the temple - holy days, holy works, holy callings, holy purposes, holy desires, holy hands, the holy priesthood, holy faith, holy law, holy kiss, and the holy temple. 

The Sabbath is holy because it is His day.  We keep it holy by doing that which conforms to His will.  If we do not keep it holy, it does not cease to be His day.  We just miss the blessings that come from conforming to His will.  However, the Sabbath day was changed at one time from the seventh day of the week to the first day.  It is the Sabbath because it is the will of the Lord. 

The priesthood does not stop being holy if someone attempts to misuse it.  Such a person loses the ability to call upon the powers of the priesthood, but the priesthood belongs to God and only exists through Him.  It is always holy.  It is the user who may stop being holy. 

A holy temple may stop being holy if it is defiled and the spirit of the Lord is therefore withdrawn from it.  Objects that are to be used in sacred ceremonies in the temple may be defiled and therefore stop being holy.  A holy prophet who stops doing the will of the Lord and follows after his own desires ceases to be holy and ceases to be a prophet. 

So some things are holy because Heavenly Father has made it so, and man can do nothing to change that.  Other things are holy because they are used by man according to the purposes of God and in compliance with His will.  Of great importance to us, as we strive to become like the Savior, are the latter.  We need to develop holy desires and holy purposes and a holy faith by having a change of heart and accepting our holy callings and fulfilling them with holy works by using holy hands.  In other words, we must begin to become holy in our desires, thoughts, words, and deeds.

The second chapter in Happy Like Jesus is Be Holy.  At first I thought it strange that something so all-encompassing and time-consuming, something that we are most likely not going to fully accomplish in this life, or at least not till we near the end of it, would come before other things that are smaller in nature and quicker to achieve, such as being humble, knowledgeable, obedient, forgiving, dedicated or disciplined.  Then I realized that, in order to even attempt to achieve these other goals, one must have the desire to make such changes.  That desire comes from having a reverence for God and all things spiritual.  It is developed through replacing those activities and pastimes that feed competing desires.  In order to move forward in achieving a change of heart, one must begin with the right attitude.  The attitude is one of a holy reverence for all things pertaining to Jesus Christ and His gospel.  To get started on this sacred path that leads to a change of heart, we must seek for a holy desire to do so.  Otherwise, we will never take the first step.

Then we will see that becoming holy is accomplished step by step as we make progress on all the other attributes we are attempting to claim as our own.  With each step in the right direction we become a little more holy.  We will witness our desires becoming more pure and more in keeping with the Lord’s will.  There will come a time when His will is our will.  Then we will no longer be spending our time or energy doing things that make us unholy.  We will be His people.  We will be doing His work.  We will be instruments in His hands.  That which defiles us heart, mind and body will no longer have any appeal for us. 

If this is what we seek, we must live as though it were already a reality.  Everything we do, everything we say, everything we read or listen to must convey the love and respect we have for the Lord.  There is no time that is not His time.  We are never off the clock and therefore free to do things that might offend Him.  It is never okay to be sacrilegious,  irreverent or to mock that which is holy. 

We do not want to be holier than thou or sanctimonious.  We do not want to judge others.  And we have to remember that we cannot become perfect in an instant.  We are imperfect beings living in an imperfect world full of many people who have an effect on us in one way or another.  Don’t forget the first step in becoming like Jesus.  We want to be happy like Him.  That happiness will increase if we can work on self-improvement without offending others or getting weighed down with the enormity of the task and without becoming discouraged when we are not perfect in our efforts.

This is a one-step-at-a-time journey.  Choose a step and take it.  For many just keeping the Sabbath day holy is a perfect first step.  It is one day that is set aside for us to be holy.  Can we be holy one day a week?  I think I can do that. 

Happy Like Jesus

I have decided on a few goals for the next year.  One that I will be sharing through this blog is that I want to be Happy Like Jesus.  That’s the title of a new book I tripped over this morning.  When I saw the chapters, that they are all about taking on an attribute of Jesus so that we can be happy as He is, I knew that was exactly what I wanted to do. 

I tired of the traditional goals of exercising more and losing weight and other such ideas that get overdone years ago.  A few years back I decided from now on my goals are going to be more meaningful and have an eternal perspective.  That first year I just wanted to have more faith.  I’ve been working on that ever since and have seen quite a bit of improvement as well as a need to keep going.  Last year I tackled two big ones: stop judging others and forgive quickly.  Again, seen improvement, need much more. 

A big stumbling block for me in the last year or so has been that there are so many things going wrong in this country and the world that I’ve started to worry and to lose sight of how faith drives away all fear.  In an effort to stop the fear, I have wanted to stop looking at the news, but then I don’t want to be ignorant of what is going on.  Quite a dilemma.  With that quandary in the back of my mind, I found this book and read the intro and first chapter which tackles the question: How can Jesus be happy when all around Him, He sees sin, pride, disbelief, hatred and even personal attacks on Him?  Heber C. Kimball said, “I am perfectly satisfied that my Father and my God is a cheerful, pleasant, lively, and good-natured Being. Why? Because I am cheerful, pleasant, lively, and good-natured when I have His Spirit.”  So am I.  I am at my happiest when I can feel the presence of the Holy Ghost. 

So if God and His Son, knowing all that is, that ever was and that ever will be, are happy, I can be happy too.  My goal this year is to find that happiness that exists in the midst of trials and suffering.  That happiness is found by living as a true disciple of Christ.  Jesus said, “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).  In the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5, He tells us that we are blessed or happy if we are humble in spirit, mourn and are compassionate, are meek, hunger and thirst after righteousness, are merciful and pure in heart, are peacemakers, and if we are persecuted because of Him.

As D. Kelly Ogden said in Happy Like Jesus, “True disciples of Christ have an obligation to be cheerful, hopeful, and optimistic about the future.”  We just celebrated Christmas, in which we were reminded that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is glad tidings of great joy unto all people.  Instead of focusing on all the bad things that are happening, we need to focus on all the good that is happening.  We need to be talking about and furthering the work of the Savior.  We need to follow His example and be positive and optimistic.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has said that, with the comforting words the Savior has spoken to us, we should not be unhappy, worried or gloomy.   He reminds us that, “On that very night [of Gethsemane], the night of the greatest suffering the world has ever known or ever will know, [the Savior] said, ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. . . . Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid’ (John 14:27). I submit to you that [this] may be one of the Savior’s commandments that is, even in the hearts of otherwise faithful Latter-day Saints, almost universally disobeyed.”

Those who have an eternal perspective are optimistic and happy despite all the horrors playing out around us now.  They know that good will triumph over evil, that Jesus has conquered sin and death and that Satan will be put down. 

After Jesus washed the feet of his apostles at the Last Supper, He said, “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you….If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”  (John 13:15, 17) 

If we follow His example, we can and will be happy, no matter what.  Next year I am going to stop focusing on Satan’s side of the war and focus on the Lord’s side.  I will do my best to become more like Jesus.  For someone who has suffered depression as much as I have, saying I am going to be happy like Jesus is very significant.  I can do it.  I know I can, and if I can, I know others can as well.  I invite my followers to take this journey with me. 

Merry Christmas

I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell.  (2 Nephi 33:6) 

It is easy to love Christmas.  Beautiful lights are strung on homes, buildings and trees.    Joyful music is heard on the radio, in stores, and even in commercials.  Movies about love, hope and giving are aired constantly.  Shoppers spend more time buying for someone else rather than themselves.   Brightly colored packages are piled under trees adorned with beautiful ornaments.  The Salvation Army reminds us that others are worse off than us and offers a chance to help them.  The Angel Tree and Toys for Tots are opportunities to truly feel the spirit of Christ as we give to a child who otherwise might do without.  Homemade cookies and candy are prepared to share with friends and coworkers.  Strangers smile and say merry Christmas or happy holidays.  Everyone is having a party. 

Some say all these things are reason to dislike the season or to fret over the commercialization of Christmas or the secularization of the celebration of Christ’s birth.  Anyone can take a negative view of anything.  As followers of Christ, let us take a positive view and love the opportunity to share in a celebration of His birth with those who reverence his life and mission as well as those who just use it as an excuse to have another party.  Choose to be happy for this time set aside to remember the Savior’s birth and take the time to enjoy the peace on earth and goodwill to men that we are celebrating. 

The purpose of the season is not to exchange gifts.  It is not to be with family and loved ones.  It is not to show off our homes and how much we can give.  For years now, every December stories start to pop up about a war on Christmas.  Complaints abound about some person or organization trying to take Christ out of Christmas.  Christmas is a season to remember Christ, and that can only be accomplished or disregarded by each of us individually. 

Take control of your emotions and allow the natural joy of the season to lift you.  Focus on the great wonder that God came to earth to receive a body, that He had a miraculous birth.  Remember that His birth was foretold and anticipated for centuries by prophets.  Celebrate along with the hosts of heaven who announced His birth to the shepherds.  Go with the shepherds to the manger and worship the Lord.  Glory in the true meaning of Christmas, the fact that the Savior came to earth so that He could atone for us and lead us home again. 

And don’t forget that message when the season ends.  As I was looking at my Christmas tree this morning and listening to one of my favorite new seasonal songs, I realized that instead of feeling regret at seeing this season draw to an end, I am anxiously looking forward to Easter. 

So Merry Christmas and may you take the joy and peace of this season with you throughout the coming year and the rest of your life.