Reflections on a Consecrated Life

I almost didn't blog today. I had a brief chance this morning, but I missed my chance. After that, I knew it would be difficult to get onto the computer to blog, and I could have given up on the idea. But Mom was playing a Conference Talk on her laptop and Ben wasn't really using the shared computer at the time, so I felt to asking him if I could log him off, and here I am.

Church today was alright. Well, okay, some parts of it were boring, but I managed to get a few insights from one of the testimonies that was shared. A question that I was pondering was "What does God want me to do? Or at least, how can I learn what God wants me to do?" Two answers came. First, attending the Temple can help us learn our place in God's plan. Second, he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. The second answer seems to be pointing at service. So, my hypothesis is that if I lose myself in the service of others and attend the temple as much as I can, I will be able to find purpose in my life. I wonder if there's a Conference Talk that discusses this topic.

In October 2010, Elder D. Todd Christofferson spoke of "Reflections on a Consecrated Life." He said, "True success in this life comes in consecrating our lives—that is, our time and choices—to God’s purposes. In so doing, we permit Him to raise us to our highest destiny." I like that quote. He also quotes Elder B. H. Roberts to have said: “The man who so walks in the light and wisdom and power of God, will at the last, by the very force of association, make the light and wisdom and power of God his own—weaving those bright rays into a chain divine, linking himself forever to God and God to him."

According to Elder Bednar, there are five elements of a consecrated life, and service is one of them, so I'm on the right track. The other elements are purity, work, respect for one's physical body, and integrity. He discusses each of these, and service, in greater detail than I have time to convey. The talk is just over 16 minutes long, but it was worth my time to listen to. It taught me that constant effort is part of the Lord's plan for us on Earth. Yes, I know we've heard that before, but this time, he tells us why constant work is so important. True, constant work is a prerequisite for maintaining a spiritual life, but why is that? If God wants more of His children to make it home, why did He set the standards so high? The basic idea is that hard work helps us grow. With high standards set for us, we achieve more than we would with lower standards. There's a natural tendency for us to do as little as we can get away with. Through His high standards, God intends to bring out the best in us.

It's amazing to think that God has great things in store for me. He wants me to become incredibly capable, powerful even, as well as pure and righteous, so that I'll not only posses the desire to do a great deal of good, but also the ability to do so. But of course, with great power comes great responsibility, so God only grants us that kind of power when we prove that we can handle the responsibility, and we do that by maintaining the high standards He has set - by living a consecrated life.

I've read recently that "most of the profound and important teachings in the Church are simple," and I suppose they truly are, once we've given enough time and attention to understanding them. I now understand that living the gospel is, basically, being a good person. If I can manage that, and I think I can, God can help me with the rest. First, I need to just focus on the basics. I can work out the finer details after that.