Week 7: II Cor. 1-13, Gal. 1-6

     The whole epistle to the church members in Galatia is Paul's effort to get them to see that the Law of Moses no longer holds any significance now that Christ has come. Anytime "the law" is mentioned, it is referring to the law given to the Jews because of their transgression while in the wilderness - a framework of very literal, checkmark-oriented guidelines for their actions and lifestyles. This law was an outwardly measured way to become closer to Christ. What the Jews did not understand, however, was that when Christ came, the higher law was established and the Law of Moses was obsolete. The purpose for which it was introduced was fulfilled. This for some reason was SO HARD for the Jews to accept. In Galatia, there were Judaizers, or church members who were of the opinion that one must first become a member of Judaism and live the Law of Moses, and then convert to Christianity when sufficiently ready.
     In class we discussed situations that occur today in the church itself or in "Mormon culture" that parallel this one. An example was given of the situation that often come up in Sunday school or any church lesson when a discussion is started about something in the gospel that we really don't know anything about. One that always makes me chuckle would be the location/significance of Kolob: not important whatsoever to our salvation or earthly existence, and yet many spend their time postulating and theorizing about it, whether in their personal time or during lessons. Another could be the unnecessary focus some put on the current administrative organization of the Church, or perhaps a particular member of the bishopric or Relief Society presidency in one's ward. Sometimes the issues one has with such situations or persons can lead to personal doubt in the validity of the gospel, which is as pointless as declaring math to be wrong merely because a person solved a problem inaccurately using the methods. The Church is the vehicle by which gospel is spread - the people within it are not perfect. A final example could be treating church membership and "righteousness" as a checklist. Visiting teaching - check. Morning and nightly prayers - check. Going to church - check. This example is particularly parallel to the issues the Galatians were having. As was the Law of Moses in comparison to Christ's higher law, in having a checklist-oriented mindset about the gospel we lose the passion and spirit of living as a true person of faith. There is no righteous desire or true obedience, only faithless action. This simple reality is often lost on people who choose to dwell on a trivial component of the Church.
     The issues that the Galatian members had with letting go of the Law of Moses is a lesson we can apply to current times as members of the church. Treating membership like a checklist defeats the pure purpose of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and it is a habit that anyone can get sucked into. I am consistently blown away with how applicable ancient scripture is to our day. The weaknesses and proclivities of man really haven't changed a bit over these 2000 years since the events within these books transpired, and that's why the scriptures are so AWESOME and so useful!

Week 6: 1 Cor. 8-16

     I absolutely loved the most recent lecture about charity. I had a hard time remembering to take notes because I was too absorbed in what Brother Griffin was saying - I didn't want to miss anything.
     We as members of the church often glaze over when it comes to the subject of charity. So many Sunday school lessons start with the instructor asking the question "What is charity?" and we spit out the definition "Charity is the pure love of Christ." But do we really stop to think what those words mean? The pure love of Christ.
'The' denotes that the subject of the sentence is singular, and whatever it is, there's only one of them.
Pure love. D. Kelly Ogden and Andrew C. Skinner, in their book New Testament Apostles Testify of Christ, point out that charity is a selfless concern for others that is not evoked by any love on the part of the other. The fact that this love it totally independent from how the person on the other side of the relationship feels is what makes it completely pure. No matter what the other person does, this love will still exist. It is unconditional. Totally and perfectly pure. Who gave the perfect example of this love? Only one person ever has. Keep reading.
Of Christ. This is something many of us don't comprehend even as we regurgitate the definition often. This love being spoken of is Christ's love. It comes from Christ. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, "The greatest definition of 'the pure love of Christ,' however, is not what we as Christians try but largely fail to demonstrate toward others, but rather what Christ totally succeeded in demonstration toward us." True charity was only demonstrated on earth one time - during the years of his life and ministry. We cannot give true charity because it can only come from Christ. Christ is charity. And at this point in the lesson, Brother Griffin had us read 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 with this alteration: take out every use of 'charity' and replace it with Christ's name.

Christ suffereth long, and is kind; Christ envieth not; Christ vaunteth not himself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave himself unseemingly, seeketh not his own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Christ never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

SO AWESOME, RIGHT?!?! I'm not sure what the deal was, but reading that just made me feel like my heart was going to explode. Here, right here, is the most straightforward description of what it means to be Christlike. And it's so, so beautiful.

     Then we get to the part where you go 'Wait, if Christ is the only one who can give his love, then what's the point of all the lessons on it?' We're told to "have" the pure love of Christ toward others. "Be full" of the pure love of Christ. How can we do that with this certain type love that we can't produce on our own? There's a two-step answer. First, we need to live our lives in a way that allows us to receive Christ's love. "Truly, those found possessed of the blessing of [Christ's] love at the last day - the Atonement, the Resurrection, eternal life, eternal promise - surely it shall be well with them," said Jeffrey R. Holland. So there we go. It's something we need to receive first. And of course, every person on the face of the earth has Christ's love, since it's unconditional, but with a righteous life our relationship with him grows more. We can truly say we have a relationship of love from Him and of Him - it's two-way.
     The second step of this is to reflect the love of Christ that we have received. As stated earlier, charity does is not conditional on the way the other person feels. It is dependent only upon our choice to give it. In order to give freely of this love and remain in the mindset that allows it to most fully radiate from us, we follow the recipe given in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. This lecture gave me the opportunity to more deeply absorb what each and every one of the given characteristics of charity meant. I encourage anyone reading this to do the same. By the way, tangent time: as a sidenote, Brother Griffin asked us to keep in mind that at the beginning of this verse, "suffer long" and "kind" are in the same phrase. Maybe it's just a matter of punctuation and phrasing, but maybe it's actually more? It is so important to remain kind even when we are in pain, under stress, or unhappy. The Savior was the perfect example of this, particularly after suffering the Atonement. When Judas arrived with those desiring to kill Christ, the Savior was not angry. In fact, he immediately healed the ear of the man who Peter wounded out of anger. And while I was sitting there in class, I realized something I had never thought of before - Christ has just felt the pain of that wounded man, only minutes before. Literally only minutes. Truly the Savior was the most perfect person to ever walk the Earth. If I can always have such a mindset of instant forgiveness, humility, and pure love, I'll be a happy girl. This lecture helped me seriously evaluate what charity means and how I can further improve both on being as worthy of Christ's love as possible and on reflecting it towards the people I interact with daily, whether personally or generally.

Week 5: Acts 19-21 & 1st Corinthians 1-7

"All that is ungodly within us must be put to death."

     I don't remember where I heard this quote, but I always think of it when I'm on a hard run and am struggling a little bit. I want so badly to stop, or at least slow down. Just for a little bit. But then my little running shoulder angel pops up and I'm reminded: If I slack off now, I'm robbing myself of progress that I'll have to make up later. If I don't do my absolute best and give my all, I'm putting myself farther from my goal. And that quote up there comes to my head. I tell myself that all that is weak within my body must be broken down so that I can build stronger walls in their place. And then I keep running. 

     In chapter 19 of the book of Acts, Paul is in Ephesus, teaching in the synagogues. At one point, he performs a miracle that convinces several in the audience, so that "many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds" (verse 18). Following this, "many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men." While I was reading and came to this point, I thought of my running quote. It obviously was originally supposed to be applied to more spiritual things, and the events in Acts 19:19 are a real-life example of what it means to put all that is ungodly within you to death. 

     It's part of the natural man to, when a personal fault is found, make a quick fix and move on without metaphorically ripping it out, which can be extremely uncomfortable and difficult, and replacing it slowly with more godlike habits. These quick fixes not only build an unstable and ineffective foundation for one's character, but also facilitate an attitude of laziness and superficiality in one's personal life. Is that godlike? No. True repentance requires a complete abandonment of the sin and a commitment to never repeat the sin again. That's kind of REALLY hard, but a quick fix with little commitment to the needed repairs is far from even trying. These people could have just put their books of "curious arts" somewhere out of sight so that they weren't tempted to return to old habits. But instead, they burned them, and not only that, but in front of all men. They were openly putting to death that which was ungodly about themselves, which was probably hard and maybe a little embarrassing. But the discomfort of ripping out this part of themselves would open the door for the most complete overhaul possible, which is the next step on the path that leads to the best and most godlike level of themselves.