Sharing a Whisper
This morning I had the thought to read a BYU devotional talk, and the one I selected was given by Elder M. Russell Ballard in November of 2017, entitled "Questions and Answers." It's been many decades since I was a student at BYU, but I still learned something. In fact, the following paragraph jumped out at me:
Question: If I have family or friends who are less active, how far do I go in my attempts to bring them back?
My answer is please do not preach to them! Your family members or friends already know the Church’s teachings. They don’t need another lecture! What they need—what we all need—is love and understanding, not judging. Share your positive experiences of living the gospel. The most powerful thing you can do is share your spiritual experiences with family and friends. Also, be genuinely interested in their lives, their successes, and their challenges. Always be warm, gentle, loving, and kind.
Last year the word "share" kept coming to mind, this year it's "relationships" and I love the guidance from a prophet that combines the two. I should be sharing not just information and mundane trivia, but faith building spiritual experiences. What a great goal, and one that could lead rise above ordinary daily "stuff" to eternal progression for myself and others.
This morning I also clicked on a link a friend shared and read an article on LDS Living. It was interesting, but as I read it I felt that maybe it wasn't quite the proper forum. I was reminded of President Packer's teaching:
"It is my conviction that experiences of a special, sacred nature are individual and should be kept to oneself."
It will take some pondering to figure out how to combine the counsel from these two prophets and make it work in my individual life, but that's why we need the guidance of the Holy Ghost. Part of the answer will come by adding this experience of another prophet and apostle (from a news report of a chapel dedication) to the equation:
Memories are best cherished, President Eyring continued, when they are recalled and acted on. “The Lord gives us those testimonies to bless and reassure others, as well as ourselves,” President Eyring said. “He blesses us with those gifts of the Spirit, not for our salvation alone. In fact, if we overanalyze them privately long enough, they will become distorted, tarnished, and finally fade.”
So, I will stop overanalyzing, but I will also not go about sharing things indiscriminately, and I will look for spiritual experiences that happen in my own life to help not only me, but those I love.
Question: If I have family or friends who are less active, how far do I go in my attempts to bring them back?
My answer is please do not preach to them! Your family members or friends already know the Church’s teachings. They don’t need another lecture! What they need—what we all need—is love and understanding, not judging. Share your positive experiences of living the gospel. The most powerful thing you can do is share your spiritual experiences with family and friends. Also, be genuinely interested in their lives, their successes, and their challenges. Always be warm, gentle, loving, and kind.
Last year the word "share" kept coming to mind, this year it's "relationships" and I love the guidance from a prophet that combines the two. I should be sharing not just information and mundane trivia, but faith building spiritual experiences. What a great goal, and one that could lead rise above ordinary daily "stuff" to eternal progression for myself and others.
This morning I also clicked on a link a friend shared and read an article on LDS Living. It was interesting, but as I read it I felt that maybe it wasn't quite the proper forum. I was reminded of President Packer's teaching:
"It is my conviction that experiences of a special, sacred nature are individual and should be kept to oneself."
It will take some pondering to figure out how to combine the counsel from these two prophets and make it work in my individual life, but that's why we need the guidance of the Holy Ghost. Part of the answer will come by adding this experience of another prophet and apostle (from a news report of a chapel dedication) to the equation:
Memories are best cherished, President Eyring continued, when they are recalled and acted on. “The Lord gives us those testimonies to bless and reassure others, as well as ourselves,” President Eyring said. “He blesses us with those gifts of the Spirit, not for our salvation alone. In fact, if we overanalyze them privately long enough, they will become distorted, tarnished, and finally fade.”
So, I will stop overanalyzing, but I will also not go about sharing things indiscriminately, and I will look for spiritual experiences that happen in my own life to help not only me, but those I love.
Comments
Post a Comment