Standing with Confidence

Today in Sunday School, my teacher asked, "how many of you could stand with true confidence before God?"
We all just sorta sat there, none of us knowing how to answer. All of us were afraid to say, "ooooh!! ME!! Me, I definitely could!"
How could any of us truly feel that way?!

Well, after thinking about it for a second, you know what I think?

I think Christ is more understanding than we could ever imagine. He knows our doubts. He knows our insecurities. He understands how hard life is because He has felt everything we have. He knows pain. He knows fear.

He knows you individually. He knows of your sins. He knows of your sorrow. But most importantly, Christ knows your heart, and He loves you.

He loves you because you try. He loves you because you love Him. Actually, even if you don't try, even if you don't love Him, He loves you anyways. He loves you because you are you. He doesn't need any other reason to love you than that. You can never escape Christ's love. Ever.

How cool is that!?


So many of us feel weighed down by sin.
We feel like we aren't committed enough or we feel that we don't accept Christ enough. We feel like we don't have the Spirit enough, like we don't help enough, like we don't pray enough, or like we don't repent enough.
Or maybe you do repent enough. But maybe you still constantly feel worthless and guilty. You are constantly praying for forgiveness, and yet you aren't willing to accept it when Christ offers it to you.

I feel that sometimes. I feel and do all of these things all the time.

But I shouldn't! And you shouldn't either!

My friends, Christ loves you for you. I love the above video because the woman came to Him a sinner. She came to Him in her imperfections. She came to Him feeling guilty and unworthy. She looked at the ground when He spoke to her, and I'm sure she didn't feel confident.
But what happened? Did Christ yell at her? Denounce her in her wickedness? Did she spontaneously burst into flames? No! "Neither do I condemn thee," He said, "go and sin no more."


Don't let sin weigh you down. Christ performed the Atonement so that you could overcome sin. So let Christ's grace into your life! Utilize the Atonement and accept the love and forgiveness always available to you.
I am not saying that it is okay to sin. Living a righteous life shows Christ that you honor Him and are respectful of Him and want to draw close to Him. The less you sin, the happier you will be, and certainly the more confident you will be.

What I'm trying to say is, you will never be perfect. Don't let minor imperfections make you feel worthless and thoroughly unconfident.
Christ loves you for trying. He loves you even if you sin. So make a choice to start feeling confident and proud of your efforts.
Never stop trying to be better, but also don't spend your entire life thinking, "hopefully when I'm 80 I'll get it. I'll be perfect then." Friends, you will feel the same way at eighty as you do now. Learn to love yourself and be proud of your efforts now. 

So could I stand before the Lord in confidence? I think so. Not because I'm perfect, but because I know that He is. I would stand before Him imperfect. I would stand before Him a sinner. But I would stand before Him in love and submission.
I know that He loves me for me and He loves me because I try and I strive hard to be the person He would want me to be.

So I'll keep pressing forward. I'll keep begging for forgiveness. I'll keep trying to be better.
And I'm going to be happy with that. I'm going to choose to live with trust, with gratitude, and with confidence.

Love, Haley

give it to GOD.

I had an interesting experience a couple weeks ago. I got to meet a woman that my dad knew while he was on his mission in Virginia.
We spent a while catching up with her and she mentioned how her daughter had had a baby unexpectedly a few years ago. No one knew she was pregnant, not even the daughter (how does this happen?!?!?).
Anyways, she said something that I really loved. Her daughter had just had a baby! Meaning she had had sexual relations with some man before she was married, something that our church frowns upon quite a lot.
So what did the mother do?
This was basically what she told me:
"I gave it to God. I didn't have to beat her upside the head for her decisions! It was too heavy of a burden for me to carry, so I gave it to God. He handled the whole thing for me. He's still handling it for me, I don't have to worry about it. I never had to worry about it."


I was so impressed. I was so impressed and am still impressed at her faith in God. She was willing to trust completely that God was over all. She explained that if she kept worrying and asking about her troubles, she was showing God that she didn't trust Him to handle it.

My friends, when you have troubles, give them to God! Give them to God and then let go of them. God can handle it. Christ already carried your burdens. He suffered for you already, so you don't have to keep carrying around regrets and burdens, worrying about whether or not they're taken care of.

Let go. Let go of the heartache, of the regret, of the guilt. Let go and let God take care of it.
TRUST that He can take care of it. He doesn't need you to keep reminding Him about troubles that you should have already let go of.
Don't let your past weigh you down. Surrender completely to God and His grace and trust that things are taken care of, that you can proceed with your life with a light heart and a bright smile.

Show God that you are willing to move on with your life and that you are thankful for the bright future He has given you.


She was such a neat lady and I really learned a lot from her. Join with me as I lay my trials before God and then let them go completely. Join with me and show God that you trust Him enough to let Him carry your burdens. Join with me in giving it to God and forgetting about it.

Haley

the miracle of forgiveness

This video was shared in my YWs lesson last week... I usually kinda shy away from the longer videos (silly me), so I hadn't seen it before! :)

Enjoy!




I think that the miracle of forgiveness is such an amazing thing. Albeit unintentionally, the young man in this video still took a lot away from Chris and his family. And the fact that Chris was so ready to forgive is such a cool thing.

So why is it so hard to forgive people for the little things? If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that I am a firm believer that most people are just trying to do what's right. And even if they don't always go about it the right way, at least not in your opinion, it's important to keep in mind that people are trying. 

I make so many mistakes in my life that cause me to beg for forgiveness. And if the Lord is willing to forgive me, why should I be slow to forgive the little things that others do?

I want to live a life filled with love for others. I never want to be one who holds grudges. I don't want to judge people because of things I hear about them. And I want to be the kind of person where if anyone said something negative about me, others wouldn't believe it.

I want people to think of me as the person who will love others for who they are and for what they are.

So how about we start being slower to judge, more rarely offended, and quicker to forgive.

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“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. 
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. 
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.” 
-Mother Teresa

good to come

The guy in the white shirt totally cracks me up.

I shared this video a year ago, but I think it is such a good one for the new year. It just had to be shared again.

Sorry my posts have been kinda lame lately. At least it seems like they have been.
Hopefully that's in the past :)


"She probably didn't even give it any consideration that the future could be better than her past."


Live for the future. You guys hear it all the time... you see it quoted on Pinterest and Facebook... You are not the mistakes you have made. 

Do you want to know what my goal is for the new year?

Not letting homework stress me out so much! It's not even that hard to get it all done... right!?!

What are your goals for 2013??

You know what? Life is good! It's full of good things to be excited for!!

And you have a bright future ahead of you! So... no worries! Okay? No stressing.

You know what I have the hardest time with? And I have mentioned this before... but forgiving myself.
But you can never reach your full potential if you are constantly looking back and feeling guilt for things that you Simply. Cannot. Change.
Would God want that?

No, he offers forgiveness, a bright future, and guidance to make beautiful things of it.

My Bishop told me something kinda cool the other day... "With the church, it always gets better."
He further explained - growing up, college, marriage... and you think what could possibly be better? And then you have children. Then grandchildren. And if you'll notice, the good things don't stop coming.


"Change is the Lord’s way. He wants us to be happy and growing, to be excited to move on with our lives. Life is a journey, and while still enjoying the present and preparing for inevitable challenges, we must move forward, remaining optimistic, our hearts open to the experiences and good things that are undoubtedly on their way."
- Caitlin A. Rush


I promise... if you will allow Him to, God will pour upon you blessing after blessing after blessing. 


We knew coming down to the earth that we would make mistakes. It was inevitable. So don't freak out when the inevitable comes to pass. Worrying is simply useless and unnecessary.

Let go of the past. It's done, gone, behind you. Leave it there. 
Take comfort in the fact you've done what you can. If so, you're golden. 



Happy New Year everyone. And remember, with the church, it always gets better.

Keep moving forward!

Jacob and Esau: Forgive, and Move On

Once Upon a Time... there was Rebekah. Rebekah who was married to Isaac.

And that Rebekah... was barren.

BUT. Our God, who is a God of Miracles, blessed her with children.

Genesis 25:23 - And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.


She was having twins. (Now with that in mind, read the verse again!)


And when they were born, there was Esau... the eldest son.
And then there was Jacob. His brother.

And these boys were rivals from birth.

Fast forward a few years.

One day Esau came in from the field. He was tired. Esau asked Jacob for some pottage.

And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. (see v. 31)
(Birthright: a particular right of possession or privilege one has from birth, esp. as an eldest child.)

And Esau did. He sold Jacob his birthright.
He gave up his special privelages for something that would give him temporary joy. A bowl of soup.

The story continues, and Esau gets married to Hittite wives. And this grieves his parents.

Now Isaac is dying. And he wants to bless Esau, his eldest son, before he dies. But Esau is not worthy. Rebekah helps Jacob to instead obtain this blessing. And it was taken away from Esau.

Genesis 27:41 - And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.


Now Jacob goes away to serve Laban for what ended up being fourteen years. He did this so that he could have Rachel, Laban's daughter. 


But there comes a time when Jacob must return home. He prays for protection from Esau, and sends his brother gifts in advance. Remember, Esau wants to kill him.


Jacob is told that his life will be preserved. 


That being said, I'm not sure that the end of our little story was expected by Jacob.


One of my favorite verses in the Old Testament:


Genesis 33:4 - And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.

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     Well... I suppose absence makes the heart grow fonder. But the key here... is to Repent, Forgive, and Move on. 

D&C 64: 10 I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.

     Whether or not we forgive and move on... it is completely our choice. We have complete power over it. 


     And just think of a world where everyone forgave everyone... always.




What a beautiful story...

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Forgiving Ourselves

NO MATTER WHAT YOUR PAST HAS BEEN, YOU
HAVE A SPOTLESS FUTURE.

This lesson helped me a lot with the following post...


D&C 58:42 - Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.

     Let's say that you commit a sin - any sin - and you feel bad and repent. Pretty straightforward right? If you honestly feel sorry, and you've done all that you can to repent... you are forgiven. It is promised in the scriptures.

But what happens when you can't forgive yourself?


     Here's a good story that I found, told by Elder Sterling W. Sill...
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     “Sometime ago I talked with a woman 53 years of age who had committed a moral transgression at age 18. She understood that her sin was very serious, but because she had repented a thousand times we can depend on the Lord’s promise that he had forgiven her. But she had never forgiven herself. Because she felt unclean and inferior, she withdrew from her friends, refused to marry, and became a kind of social and spiritual recluse. For 35 years she downgraded herself with bitter regrets and accusations. Her life of looking back upon her sin has turned her into something far below the wonderful person that God intended her to be. Her sin at age 18 was very serious. But for 35 years she has been adding to her sin by wasting the most valuable thing in the world, which is a splendid human life” 


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     This is sad, and happens to people too often. Maybe not in such a large way, but still... too often.
     
     Why is it that we can't let go? There are many different reasons... but if you have done all that you can... try to have faith and trust that everything will be okay. 


D&C 88:33 - For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.


     If you repent, God forgives you. Rejoice in that gift. 
This has been a pretty short post, but just a couple of quotes to end... and then a song... (For those of you who read my last post, this is NOT an entire post about a song. It just happened to contribute a lot to this message...)


“God’s forgiveness is often nullified because the sinner does not forgive himself. What good does it do for God to blot our evil from his mind, if we continue to let it dominate our thinking by rerunning it in our own?” 
- Sterling W. Sill


“Sometimes a guilt consciousness overpowers a person with such a heaviness that when a repentant one looks back and sees the ugliness, the loathsomeness of the transgression, he is almost overwhelmed and wonders, ‘Can the Lord ever forgive me? Can I ever forgive myself?’ But when one reaches the depths of despondency and feels the hopelessness of his position, and when he cries out to God for mercy in helplessness but in faith, there comes a still, small, but penetrating voice whispering to his soul, ‘Thy sins are forgiven thee’”
- President Spencer W. Kimball


     Okay. This may have been a very boring post, since very little of it has been my actual words, but I think that this is a really good topic that may not often be brought up. I just want you to know that it has been addressed, and you can click the link at the very top of this post if you are interested in more stories and quotes...
     I think that forgiving yourself is a talent. If it is easy for you, that is great. I know that it isn't easy for me. The following song is not supposed to have anything to do with the gospel. It is by Rob Thomas... not exactly known as a gospel singer... :) The following song however, is very inspirational. I have had times in my own life when I've felt bad about decisions I've made. I'm not perfect, and I tend to be a little hard on myself sometimes.
     When I listen to this song, it reminds me that I need to give myself a break. Sometimes I just need to let things go...

(I actually shared this same exact song in this post. Remember?)

Okay... you ready to hear it?



Little Wonders - Rob Thomas

     Like I said, forgiving myself has been a huge problem for me in the past. I've known about and listened to this song for a long time, but on one occasion, when I was unnecessarily beating myself up about some things, I heard it again. I just soaked the words in, and they meant a lot to me this time. I realized that I just needed to move on. I just needed to put it behind me, because it didn't matter anymore.

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