Forgiveness

Answers to questions based upon readings from 2 Corinthians 2:1-11, Matthew 6:14-15 and D&C 64:9-10.

What where the poeple of Corinth commanded to do if any caused grief?
The people of Corinth were commanded to love those that cause grief and to forgive them. This is so that one grief would not cause a chain reaction and also because God forgives all and we should follow his example.

What blessings do we see if we forgive?
2 Corinthians talks about how forgiveness is a test our obedience and if we will do hard things for God. It also says that God forgives those that forgive and so our Christ-like attitude will be rewarded. This also stated plainly in Matthew where it states that if we forgive, we will be forgiven.

What is the danger of failing to forgive?
D&C states that those who fail to forgive before the Lord will be condemned in the Lord's sight.

Forgiveness can be one of the hardest things we face in life. I feel that the natural man is programmed to hold onto things and grudges. This is all tools of Satan and what will lead us to condemnation. I have seen the releasing power of forgiveness through examples in my life, and it is an amazing gift of the gospel.
 

The Impact of Example

"Moreover it required in stewards, that a an be found faithful." (1 Corinthians 4:2). Throughout Paul's life and journey's, and really for all the apostles, they were constantly met with tests of their faith. What made them such good teachers by example is that they stood firm to their faith and did not waver.

In 1 Corinthians 4:9-17, Paul talks to a group of church members and calls upon them to be strong in the faith. In these verses he is talking about the Ephesians. He says in verse 17 that he has sent Timotheus to them to be a teacher and a leader to them so that they may never waver. Timotheus labored at with Paul on his journeys and in Ephesus was made a Bishop over the church. Paul tells the Ephsians that they are wise in Christ and that they are blessed for having the Gospel in their lives but to be watchful. At the time there were a lot of different teachings of Christ and men teaching false doctrines and leading people astray. Paul wanted to make sure that the people were following the right path which is why he had Timotheus stay with them.

In these verses Paul was speaking to the Ephesians but this could be directly applied to us in our day. We are living in a time where there are many different teachings of Christ and so much temptation to stray, but Paul is asking us to be firm believers and to be examples to others of the things that we know are true. It is important that we act as examples because we never know who is watching. If we know what is true but we do not live in a way that shows that we know it we could be potentially hurting other peoples chances at gaining a testimony through us.

By being righteous examples and living what we know we will be blessed by the Lord. In 3 Nephi 8:1 it talks about how a man performed miracles in the name of Jesus and the people knew that he was true because he, "was a just man" and "true". This man an example to the people and because of that he got to perform miracles and reaffirm peoples faith through those miracles.

Paul's Attributes

Love, un-blameable in holiness, righteous, sanctified, honest, clean, love, studious, hard working, watchful, sober, comforting, supporting, rejoicing, prayerful, thankful, spiritual, confident, powerful and focused.

These are attributes of Paul gleaned from 1 and 2 Thessalonians. These are things that Paul was counseling and displaying through his missionary work. I can be a better missionary by starting to emulate Paul and walking in his footsteps.

Three of these attributes that I want to work on are studious, supporting and thankful. I feel that I can be more studious in my scripture study. I get into these ruts where I think that my scripture study is just reading and that is ok, and while scripture reading is good I know from the past that I grow much more when I truly study the scriptures and get excited about a topic. I will make a goal to keep reading my scriptures everyday but make a point to study scriptures three times and week and see how it goes and hopefully study the scriptures everyday eventually. Supporting is an odd attribute... I'm not even really sure that it qualifies as an attribute but I will tell you why I included it as an attribute. You know those people that are always so nice and genuine and make every effort to let people know that they are important and loved?... Well I am not one of them. I have a tendency to be to judgmental and too honest. I have friends that have this quality and I think of how much I would love to be more like them so I am going to try. I am going to finds ways to love people even if they are people that I don't particularly like I can focus on something about them to be appreciative of. And finally thankfulness, are we ever thankful enough? I know that I don't express to the people in my life enough how thankful I am for them. I need to work on that and I need to be more thankful to the Lord who has given me everything. I know I say it in my prayers but I think that thankfulness can be a part of you as a person and how you live your life and I want to be a more thankful person overall. I plan to do this by thinking of things in a thankful manner. Ex: "Those flowers are nice" or rather "I am thankful to God for making those flowers to brighten my day". Both are good but one is better than the other in that it recognizes God's hand in our life.

Paul's Second Journey

I am taking an online New Testament class this semester and I have the opportunity to share some of what we are learning in Acts. 

On Paul's second mission he visited many different places. One of which I have had the opportunity to visit myself. Some of the places he visited and later wrote epistles to included Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians and Thessalonians. I think that it is safe to say that Paul was a man who was greatly filled with the Spirit. Now this doesn’t mean that his missions where easy just because he had the Holy Ghost with him, but he was directed by the Spirit when the Lord saw fit. For example in Acts 16:6-10 it talks about how the Spirit directed where they should go. Paul was told not to visit the churches in Asia or preach there. On Paul’s first journey he traveled to preach the word and bring people the gospel and he would set u the church in this place and then he would move on. On Paul’s second mission he was returning to see how the churched where doing. As you can imagine in areas with 100% converts they weren’t always doing so well but then their where churches that had become evil and were perverting the ways of the Lord. In this scripture Paul was also blessed with a vision of a man. It was when he was visiting Troas (modern day Troy) and he saw a man from Macedonia calling to him to come over and so they did. Also in Acts 18:9-11 there is counsel given to Paul from the Lord in a vision that he should preach openly to the Gentiles. At this point the Jews had rejected him and he was in need of direction of what he should do and the Lord answered him.

Paul set an amazing example of following the spirit to complete missionary work. If I were to apply this to my own experiences I wouldn’t say that I have had any grand spiritual manifestations of the spirit in missionary work. I have never directly influenced someone to get baptized or been on an actual mission. I would say that small ways I have seen this would be the few times that I have openly shared the Gospel with other people. I tend to be a very private person who doesn’t care to talk about sacred things that the other person might not understand. But there have been a handful of times when I did feel prompted and safe to share this with other people and I think that those are the times when I may not have seen the person baptized but I could have made a change in them somehow. I think that I should use the spirit to be braver to share the Gospel with people and rely on it for what to say instead of getting so worried that I will say something wrong or offend the person

Paul did many things that allowed him to be an effective teacher. I believe the most important of which would be his constant companion of the Spirit. Some others included his prompt following of promptings, he sought out opportunities and he worked with miracles. I think that all three of these can be used to our advantage in missionary work. And now for some questions about Acts 16:9-33:

In what ways did Paul turn his experiences into missionary opportunities?

One thing that Paul was blessed with was a constant desire to praise God. I think that when you see God’s hand in all things then you are able to relate that to other people. For example when the prison was opened and the inmate released rather than letting the jailer kill himself he used it as an opportunity to share the gospel with him.

What can you learn from Paul’s mission experiences?

What I take away from Paul’s experiences is to be fearless and firm in the faith and if you trust in the lord he will help you through. I have also learned that sometimes the things that are hard are also the things that we should be doing. So seeking out that missionary opportunity may be uncomfortable but you will grow because of it.

How is the jailer an example of a true convert?

I think that the jailer did a few things that made him a true convert. First off he believed completely, and then he had a desire to share it with others (his family). When he had done that he served Paul and Silas by washing the wounds from there beating and he agreed to be baptized.

Does Mosiah 4:9-10 expand your understanding of Acts 17:30-31?

This Book of Mormon passage gives some clarity to what is being spoken here. I believe that it is saying that God will overlook the things that you had done without knowing the Gospel but he is now calling you to repentance and you will be judged according to your works and use of the Savior’s atonement.

What can you do now to better prepare yourself to share the Gospel, whether as a full-time missionary or a member?

At this moment in time I can be a better member missionary by taking a more active roll in thinking about and taking action in missionary work. I think sometimes we sit around waiting for missionary work to fall into our laps but it’s called work because we need to seek it out. Also listening to the spirit more for promptings related to missionary work.