Sodom and Gomorrah
Last night for family night Wayne expanded upon the lesson he gave a few weeks ago (the one I missed because I was sick) by sharing a quote he heard on Sunday. Here's what President Packer taught:
"I know of nothing in the history of the Church or in the history of the world to compare with our present circumstances. Nothing happened in Sodom and Gomorrah which exceeds in wickedness and depravity that which surrounds us now."
We do live in a wicked world. However, we don't have to be wicked ourselves. We have the ability to rise above the filth and stand in holy places. President Packer spoke on this theme again at the seminary commemoration broadcast on Sunday. I loved that talk as well. Remember to pray and repent, and then follow the promptings of the Spirit, and you'll be able stay on the right path.
Note: The source I found for the quote Wayne heard was an address given to seminary teachers in 2004. I attended that meeting and it was great reading the talk again. Here are some of the other quotes that made an impression upon me then, and again today.
"This shield of faith is handmade in a cottage industry. What is most worth doing ideally is done at home. It can be polished in the classroom, but it is fabricated and fitted in the home, handcrafted to each individual."
"Spiritual diseases of epidemic proportion sweep over the world. We are not able to curb them. But we can prevent our youth from being infected by them. Knowledge and a testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ are like a vaccine. We can inoculate them. Inoculate: In—'to be within' and oculate means 'eye to see.' We place an eye within them—the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost."
"You are not responsible to cure the world’s environment. You can, with parents and priesthood and auxiliary leaders and teachers, send young Latter-day Saints out as leaven into the world, spiritually nourished, immunized to the influences of evil."
"Our youth can look forward with hope for a happy life. They shall marry and raise families in the Church and teach their little ones what you have taught them. They, in turn, will teach their children and their grandchildren."
"I do not know now any more surely that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten of the Father, than I did then as a soldier boy sitting on the cliff on that tiny speck of an island. There is one difference—now I know the Lord. I bear witness of Him and invoke His blessings upon you who teach, as fathers and mothers, as grandfathers and grandmothers, upon your families, upon your classes, upon your work."
"I know of nothing in the history of the Church or in the history of the world to compare with our present circumstances. Nothing happened in Sodom and Gomorrah which exceeds in wickedness and depravity that which surrounds us now."
We do live in a wicked world. However, we don't have to be wicked ourselves. We have the ability to rise above the filth and stand in holy places. President Packer spoke on this theme again at the seminary commemoration broadcast on Sunday. I loved that talk as well. Remember to pray and repent, and then follow the promptings of the Spirit, and you'll be able stay on the right path.
Note: The source I found for the quote Wayne heard was an address given to seminary teachers in 2004. I attended that meeting and it was great reading the talk again. Here are some of the other quotes that made an impression upon me then, and again today.
"This shield of faith is handmade in a cottage industry. What is most worth doing ideally is done at home. It can be polished in the classroom, but it is fabricated and fitted in the home, handcrafted to each individual."
"Spiritual diseases of epidemic proportion sweep over the world. We are not able to curb them. But we can prevent our youth from being infected by them. Knowledge and a testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ are like a vaccine. We can inoculate them. Inoculate: In—'to be within' and oculate means 'eye to see.' We place an eye within them—the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost."
"You are not responsible to cure the world’s environment. You can, with parents and priesthood and auxiliary leaders and teachers, send young Latter-day Saints out as leaven into the world, spiritually nourished, immunized to the influences of evil."
"Our youth can look forward with hope for a happy life. They shall marry and raise families in the Church and teach their little ones what you have taught them. They, in turn, will teach their children and their grandchildren."
"I do not know now any more surely that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the Only Begotten of the Father, than I did then as a soldier boy sitting on the cliff on that tiny speck of an island. There is one difference—now I know the Lord. I bear witness of Him and invoke His blessings upon you who teach, as fathers and mothers, as grandfathers and grandmothers, upon your families, upon your classes, upon your work."
I really like these quotes. I have always loved the imagery the prophets have used to talk about fitting armor in the home - we custom-fit our children with their armor of God.
ReplyDeleteWhat a solemn responsibility as parents.