Post 55: Light the World Week Two
Dear Family and Friends
I wanted to include each one of you in the second week of
the Light the World initiative. I hope you all can take part in this program. And
that you truly want to do so. Can you imagine what our town would be like if
everyone who lives in your town would participate in this program with a
willing heart??? I think we would see some amazing changes all around us, and
maybe all around the world.
I think that this is the perfect time of the year to
begin thinking of others, as the Savior did all of His life. He came to earth
as a new born babe. His parents could not find room at the inns, so He was born
in a manger amongst the animals and lain in swaddling cloths upon clean straw
or hay. When we are thinking of others, we have less time to focus on our own
troubles, and when we are thinking of others, we are each more likely to serve
others and to love others also as the Savior did. Jesus was all about serving
those around him and taking care of them, seeing that their needs were met. He
healed the sick, made the lame to walk, the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.
He cast out devils and evil spirits from among the people and he raised people
from the dead. I am sure He felt sad or even mad at times, but He always
treated others with love and kindness. I think even when He was turning the
tables over and cleaning the temple of the money changers that He was doing it
in a mostly kind manner.
Most often the world focuses on the sales and what can be
bought to give during Christmas time. Sales and gifts may be important, but the
most important thing about Christmas is the celebration of the Christ child’s birth,
of Jesus Christ’s birth. Just imagine what would be if He had not been willing
to be born in a lowly stable and grow up to give His life willingly so that He
might pay for our sins and transgressions. None of us would have the
opportunity to return to our eternal home to Him and our Heavenly Father. We would
not have the opportunity to repent of our sins and be forgiven of those same
sins, they would be hanging on us and dragging us each down into the pit of despair.
I am here to tell you that it is hard to get your family
to change the way they see life and the way they celebrate their holidays, but
in the long run it is totally worth all the effort that you can put into it. To
share the birth of the baby Jesus and what that birth means to each of us.
I got this information off the website to share with you, but you feel free to go check it out : https://www.lds.org/church/news/2018-lighttheworld-asks-members-to-give-as-christ-gave?lang=eng
and print off a Light the World calendar for your family, there are lots of ideas of things that you and your family can do to Light the World around you. You can find the calendar here: https://www.mormon.org/christmas/service-calendar-ideas
you can read about these stories on the website here:https://www.mormon.org/christmas/service-calendar-ideas
Week 2: Light Your Community https://www.mormon.org/christmas/week-2-light-your-community
Service doesn’t just happen on a grand, global scale. Your own
community is full of opportunities to get involved, make a difference, and give
as Jesus gave.
You can brighten your community however you’d like, or you
can begin with these suggestions:
Perform an anonymous act of service for a neighbor.
Volunteer at a homeless shelter.
Give blood at a blood bank or blood drive. – we are
having a blood drive at work this week, perfect timing I guess!!
Help clean a church building. – my kids and I used to clean
the church about once a month when we lived back in Utah. We do not have that opportunity
so much here anymore, but it is just my granddaughter and I together right now.
She will be heading off to school here in a short time.
Jesus taught, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” Discover ways
that you can help someone in your neighborhood. I think you can help many neighbors if you
pick up trash along a fence line or around your neighborhood.
This Christmas go out and love thy neighborhood.
I found this article that I wanted to share with you that
goes right along with this week’s initiative:
Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself
-
“As we arise each morning, let us determine to respond with love and kindness to whatever might come our way.” —President Thomas S. MonsonConsider these teachings from President Monson regarding the many ways we can show love to others:
- “Forgiveness should go hand in hand with love. … Blame keeps wounds open. Only forgiveness heals.” I know from experience that this is very true. If we hold onto our anger and do not forgive others, we allow a hole for Satan to get a good hold on you and make you miserable from the inside out. Only forgiveness will heal that wound. It doesn’t matter if the other person forgives us or accepts our forgiveness, we must forgive others – but, more importantly, we must forgive ourselves.
- “Some of our greatest opportunities to demonstrate our love will be within the walls of our own homes.” I am sure that you have noticed this to be true as well. We have so many opportunities to show our love to others within our own homes. And those that are the hardest to love, need our love the most. This applies to anyone that you try to love, not only in our homes. I have found this to be true within the walls of my home as well as within the walls of my classroom.
“When it is necessary for us to
reprove another, we afterward show forth an increase of love [see D&C 121:43].” To teach a child with love and understanding is
the best way that we can. Whenever we must correct or redirect a child, we
should do it with lots of love. I have always told my children “I love you
always, but I like you best when you listen and follow directions.” Sometimes
it is very hard, but it is best to separate the transgression (wrong
doing) or sin (doing wrong when they know it is wrong) from the love of
the child. Make sure that they know that you will always love them no
matter what! Often times a child will believe that you do not love them
because of their ‘bad’ behavior, so it is very important to make sure that
they know it is the action that you dislike not them😊 but you
probably already knew this, right? - “Love is expressed in many recognizable ways: a smile, a wave, a kind comment, a compliment.” Since there are so many ways to express love to others it shouldn’t be very hard for us to show love to our neighborhood, right? So, let’s find a simple way to just do it!! 😊 even when it may seem hard to just smile, we can do it!
- “Other expressions may be more subtle, such as showing interest in another’s activities, teaching a principle with kindness and patience, visiting one who is ill or homebound.” This way of showing love may take a little bit more preparation, but it can be done. If you are unable to visit (though a visit is oft times better) you can send a card, letter, or text to brighten someone’s day, or just to let them know that someone is thinking about them. And by the way, age has no barriers when it comes to showing kindness. (though we must be cautious about going into someone’s home that is of the opposite gender – any gender now a days – especially if we do not know them very well).
From “Love—the Essence of
the Gospel,” Ensign, May 2014, 91–94.
When a lawyer asked Jesus
which of the commandments was the greatest, He could have chosen any of the
many commandments from the Old Testament, from the law of Moses, or from the Ten
Commandments. Instead, He summarized all of the commandments in
these two:
“Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
“This is the first and great
commandment.
“And the second is like
unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:37–39).
As President
Thomas S. Monson taught last general conference, keeping one commandment
helps us keep the other: “We cannot truly love God if we do not love our fellow
travelers on this mortal journey. Likewise, we cannot fully love our fellowmen
if we do not love God, the Father of us all. … We are all spirit
children of our Heavenly Father and, as such, are brothers and sisters. As we
keep this truth in mind, loving all of God’s children will become easier”
(“Love—the Essence of the Gospel,” Ensign, May 2014, 91). I do
not think I can state this any better than did President Monson, whom has been a
favorite of mine from before I knew anything about the church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints😊
Developing charity—Christlike
love for others—will improve our relationships, help us serve willingly, and
fit us for eternal life (see Moroni 10:21). Charity is a spiritual gift that we can pray
for and live for; it is “bestowed upon all who are true followers of … Jesus
Christ” (Moroni 7:48).
It is the “more excellent way” (1 Corinthians
12:31) spoken of by the Apostle Paul and includes being kind,
patient, humble, meek, hopeful, and generous (see 1 Corinthians
13).
Life is the perfect
laboratory to develop charity. The Savior’s teaching called the Golden Rule can
guide our actions: “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,
do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).
All of us are imperfect, yet we all desire to be treated kindly despite our
shortcomings. I have found that it is always a good thing to do to
look up the referenced scriptures so that you can read a few before and a few after
and get the full story. Sometimes it may be the whole chapter or even a couple
of chapters, but always well worth the effort to learn more about the Savior
and those He lived with and walked among and loved!
Communicate with Love
“There exists today a
great need for men and women to cultivate respect for each other across wide
distances of belief and behavior and across deep canyons of conflicting
agendas. …
“The willingness to see
through each other’s eyes will transform ‘corrupt communication’ into
‘minister[ing] grace.’ … It may not change or solve the problem, but the more
important possibility may be whether ministering grace could change us.
“I bear humble witness
that we can ‘minister grace’ through compassionate language when the cultivated
gift of the Holy Ghost pierces our hearts with empathy.”
Elder W. Craig Zwick
of the Seventy, “What Are You Thinking?” Ensign, May 2014, 43.
Well,
here we are at the end of yet another post and as always, I hope and pray that I
have shares something that has helped each of you (at least a few of you) along
your way. That your day might be a bit brighter after you have visited and read
through my post is always my goal. So, until my next post, Light the World, by
lighting your neighborhood! Make you day bright as you strive to share you love
with others😊
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