Thoughts From Institute - December 8th, 2008

We discussed three great talks today: "The Best Investment" by Sheldon F. Child; "We Will Not Yield, We Cannot Yield" by Elder W. Craig Zwick and "Today" by Elder Lance B. Wickman. There are a couple of quotes from each talk I wanted to add to the blog today.

"President Heber J. Grant stated, 'I want to say to you, if you will be honest with the Lord, paying your tithing and keeping His commandments, he will not only bless you with the light and inspiration of His Holy Spirit, but you will be blessed in dollars and cents; you will be enabled to pay your debts, and the Lord will pour out temporal blessings upon you in great abundance.'
"In 1936, at the height of the Great Depression in the United States, when people were struggling to make ends meet, Elder John A. Widtsoe admonished the Saints to pay their tithing because of the spiritual blessings they would receive. He said: 'Obedience to the law of tithing...brings a deep, inward joy...that can be won in no other way....The principles of truth become clearer....Prayer becomes easier....The spiritual sense is sharpened [and]...man becomes more like his Father in Heaven.'" (Sheldon F. Child, Ensign, May 2008, 79)

Wow! That last verse has made a huge impression on me. I have actually come to love the principle of tithing - the blessings we have received by following it are incalcuable and I've also come to think of it as sort of a "celestial savings account". That last quote by Widstoe about the spiritual blessings that come from paying tithing, however, put it over the top for me. Sign me up! It's not about the money - it is about obedience. The Lord doesn't need our money. He wants our hearts so He can bring us home.

Speaking of those in the great and spacious building found in Lehi's dream recorded in 1 Nephi 8, "They were trying to get people off the path and into the building. From all appearances, the people inside seemed to be having a great time.. What an indelible image of temptation. In Elder Neal A. Maxwell's words, 'The laughter of the world is merely loneliness pathetically trying to reassure itself.'" (Elder W. Craig Zwick, Ensign, May 2008, 97)

Speaking of 1 Nephi 8: 33 where Nephi explains how he and others withstood the ridiculing of those in the great and spacious building, "There at the end of the verse is Nephi's powerful principle, and answer to unwatned peer pressure: 'But we heeded them not.'
"President Boyd K. Packer has recently emphasized this guiding principle: 'However out of step we may seem, however much the standards are belittled, however much others yield, we will not yield, we cannot yield.'" (Elder W. Craig Zwick, Ensign, May 2008, 97)

We didn't get to this next quote in class today - sorry...

"It remains only for you and me to both seek and tender ...forgiveness - to both repent and extend charity to others - which enables us to pass through the door the Savior holds open, thus to cross the threshold from this life into exaltation. Today is the day to forgive others their trespasses, secure in the knowledge that the Lord will thus forgive ours. As Luke significantly recorded, 'Be ye therefore merciful' (Luke 6:36). Perfection may elude us here, but we can be merciful. And in the end, repenting and forgiving are among God's chief requirements of us." (Elder Lance B. Wickman, Ensign, May 2008, 103)

nuff said. Thanks everyone for another wonderful class.