Post # 105 -- Exercising Our Spiritual Muscles

Dear Family and Friends

A while back I was asked to hem a pair of pants. Without thinking I said sure, I’d be happy to do it! I had hemmed his pants before, and it wasn’t a problem. I had him stand on a chair and marked them off. It was a bit more difficult than it had been before when I hemmed his pants, but I got it done. It was when I got home and tried to actually hem his pants that I realized that I was having a whole lot of problems. With my hand and arm wrapped it was very difficult for me to get the needle through the pants and back in again.

I finally got creative and used a book and a piece of plastic – the book for stability and the plastic to help me to get the needle through the pants. Thinking back on it, I bet I was a sight to see as I struggled to keep a good hold on those pants while I was trying to get them hemmed. I needed to be careful so that I did not end up with cut fingers. With the neuropathy in my fingers it is easy to hurt yourself without realizing it until you see the blood. I was quite a process but finally I did get them hemmed and back to him on time😊

I am realizing there are so many simple things that we take for granted as long as we are able to do them without too much effort. It is when we must struggle to do things that we realize just how much we had taken it for granted that we would always be able to do the thing that we had done like second nature and now we are having to think it through in order to get it done. Does any of this make even a little bit of sense?  It id like loosing the range of motion in my arm and shoulder during the time I was wearing my sleeve and glove when it had lost its needed compression☹

Now I must do certain exercises I order to increase my range of motion in that arm and shoulder. Retraining your body once it has lost its range of motion is a painful and time-consuming exercise, but it is also very necessary if I want to continue to be able to use it in any functional way. I am still going to therapy for my lymphedema three times a week. Lifting weights – even small weights is very difficult, especially on Mondays after the weekend. By the time I get to the second set my arm and shoulder struggle to function at all. then when I go back on Wednesday it is a little bit easier and by Friday it is much easier because I have been exercising those muscles.

It is the same with our spiritual muscles – the must be exercised in order for them to become strong as well. We must continually exercise our physical muscles in order for our physical muscles to become stronger and keep our range of motion fluid. We must also exercise our spiritual muscles in order for us to stay spiritually strong. In this world of ever conflicting views and morals we must stay ever strong spiritually. For us to do this we must exercise our spiritual muscles. And how do we do this you ask? Elder Juan Pablo Villar of the Seventy has some ideas for us in his talk titled: “Exercising Our Spiritual Muscles” shall we read through it together? Here we go😊

Just as reading and learning about muscles is not enough to build muscle, reading and learning about faith without adding action is insufficient to build faith.

I am grateful for the blessing of having a physical body, which is an amazing gift from our Heavenly Father. Our bodies have over 600 muscles. Many muscles require exercise in order to be in condition to perform our daily activities. We could expend much mental effort reading and learning about our muscles, but if we think this will make them stronger, we will be very disappointed. Our muscles grow only when we use them.

The key here is the action necessary for them to grow. Even when you plant a seed in your garden, you must do something or it most likely will not grow😊

I have come to realize that spiritual gifts behave in the same way. They also need to be exercised to grow. The spiritual gift of faith, for example, is not just a feeling or a mood; it is a principle of action that frequently appears in the scriptures linked to the verb exercise. Just as reading and learning about muscles is not enough to build muscle, reading and learning about faith without adding action is insufficient to build faith.

the spiritual gift of faith is a principle of action, for our faith to grow we must exercise it. We must use it, we must trust our Heavenly Father by having faith in Him. We tale a step out into the darkness and trust that He will help us find the light beyond that darkness😊

When I was 16 years old, my oldest brother, Ivan, who was 22 at that time, came home one day and shared some news with the family. He had decided to get baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Our parents looked at him somewhat skeptically, and I remember not completely understanding what was going on. A year or so later, he gave us more surprising news: he had decided to serve as a missionary of the Church, which meant that we were not going to see him for two years. My parents were not thrilled with this news; however, I saw in him a clear determination that increased my admiration for him and the decision he had made.

Months later, while Ivan was serving his mission, I had the opportunity to plan a vacation with some schoolmates. We wanted to celebrate the end of our high school years and spend a few days at the beach.

I wrote a letter to my missionary brother, mentioning my summer vacation plans. He wrote back that the town he was serving in was on the way to my destination. I decided it would be a good idea to stop by and visit him. It was not until later that I learned that missionaries are not supposed to be visited by family.

I made all the arrangements. I remember sitting on the bus thinking of all the fun Ivan and I would have together on this beautiful sunny day. We would have breakfast, chat, play in the sand, sunbathe—what a great time we were going to have!

As the bus arrived at the terminal, I saw Ivan standing next to another young man, both in white shirts and ties. I got off the bus, we hugged each other, and he introduced his companion. Without wasting another minute, I told my brother my plans for the day, but little did I know what Ivan had scheduled. He looked at me, smiled, and said, 

“Sure! However, we need to do some errands first. Would you come with us?” I agreed, thinking that we would have enough time to enjoy the beach afterward.

That day, for more than 10 hours, I walked through the streets of that town with my brother and his companion. I smiled at people all day. I greeted people I had never seen in my life. We talked to everyone, knocked on the doors of strangers, and visited people my brother and his companion were teaching.

During one such visit, my brother and his companion were teaching about Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation. Suddenly, Ivan paused and looked at me. To my surprise, he politely asked me to share my opinion about what was being taught. The room fell silent, and all eyes were on me. With some difficulty, I finally found the words and shared my feelings about the Savior. I did not know if what I shared was right or wrong. My brother never corrected me; to the contrary, he thanked me for sharing my thoughts and feelings.

During those hours together, my brother and his companion did not spend a single minute teaching a lesson exclusively to me, yet I gained more knowledge than in all my previous conversations with him. I witnessed how countenances were changed as people received spiritual light in their lives. I saw how some of them found hope in the messages, and I learned how to serve others and forget about myself and my own desires. I was doing what the Savior taught: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself.”

Looking back, I realize that my faith grew that day because my brother gave me the opportunity to put it in action. I exercised it as we read from the scriptures, looked for people to teach, bore testimony, served others, and so on. We never got around to sunbathing that day, but my heart was bathed in light from heaven. I did not see even one small grain of sand at the beach, but I felt my faith grow like a small grain of mustard seed. I did not spend the sunny day as a tourist, but I gained wonderful experiences, and without realizing it, I was a missionary—without even being a member of the Church!

Opportunities to Strengthen Spiritual Muscles

Thanks to the Restoration of the gospel, we can come to understand how our Heavenly Father helps us develop spiritual gifts. It is more likely that He will give us opportunities to develop those gifts rather than just granting them to us without spiritual and physical effort. If we are in tune with His Spirit, we will learn to identify those opportunities and then act upon them.

If we seek more patience, we may find ourselves needing to practice it while waiting for a response. If we want to have more love for our neighbor, we can foster it by sitting next to a new face at church. With faith it is similar: when doubts come to our minds, trusting in the Lord’s promises will be required to move forward. In this way, we are exercising spiritual muscles and developing them into sources of strength in our lives.

It will probably not be easy at the beginning, and it might even become a big challenge. The words of the Lord, through the prophet Moroni, apply to us today: “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have [or exercise] faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”

I am grateful for my brother Ivan, who not only shared the gospel with me but also indirectly invited me to live it and recognize my weaknesses. He helped me to accept the invitation of the Master: “Come, follow me”—to walk as the Savior walked, seek as the Savior sought, and love as the Savior loves us. Months later, after my missionary experience, I decided to get baptized and to serve my own mission.

Let’s accept the invitation of President Russell M. Nelson and intently come unto the Savior by identifying those muscles that need more spiritual activity and starting to exercise them. This is a long-distance race, a marathon, rather than a sprint, so do not forget those small but constant spiritual activities that will strengthen those important spiritual muscles. If we want to increase our faith, then let’s do things that require faith.

I bear my witness that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father. His Son, Jesus Christ, loves us. He came to this world to show us the way and then gave His life voluntarily to give us hope. The Savior invites us to follow His perfect example, to exercise our faith in Him and His Atonement, and to expand all the spiritual gifts that we have been blessed with. He is the way. This is my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Well, my Dear Family and Friends here we are again at the end of this post and this talk. I hope and pray that I have shared something with each of you that has helped to life your spirits and inspire you to have a desire to exercise your spiritual muscles beginning or continuing today😊 remember that we must do something --- we must take action in order for our spiritual muscles to become stronger. Our muscles grow only when we use them.  Reading and learning about faith without adding action is insufficient to build faith.

So, what are some ways that we can exercise our spiritual muscles? In his story he said that he learned how to serve others and to forget about himself and his own desires. He said that he was doing what the Savior had taught when He said: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself.”

·         We must serve others. When we are serving others we are not focusing on our own problems and we are indeed following the example of our Savior.

In his story he said that his faith grew because his brother gave him the opportunity to put his faith into action. He said he exercised his faith as he:

·         Read from the scriptures

·         Looked for people to teach – share the gospel with others

·         Bore testimony – sharing your testimony with others

·         Served others

He said he felt his faith grow like a small grain of mustard seed, he had gained wonderful experiences, and without even realizing it, he was a missionary for that day – without even being a member of the Church! He said that because of, and thanks to the Restoration of the gospel, we can come to understand how our Heavenly Father helps us to develop our spiritual gifts. He said that Heavenly Father will give us opportunities to develop our spiritual gifts rather than just giving them to us without any spiritual or physical effort on our part.

·         If we are in tune with His Spirit, we will learn to identify those opportunities and then to act upon them when they come to us.

·         Trusting in the Lord’s promises will help us move forward in building our faith in Him. This is how we are exercising our spiritual muscles and developing them into sources of strength in our lives.

Remember as he said in this talk that  it may not be easy at first and it may even become a challenge, but the words of the Lord, through the prophet Moroni, apply to us today: “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have [or exercise] faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”

He said in his story that his brother has not only shared the gospel with hism but that he had also invited him to live it and to recognize his weaknesses. He said that his brother helped him to accept the invitation of the Master: “Come, follow me”—to walk as the Savior walked, seek as the Savior sought, and love as the Savior loves us.

I am going to add my voice to Elder Juan Pablo Villar when he invited each one of us to exercise our spiritual muscles, to accept President Russel M. Nelson’s invitation when he said:  

Let’s accept the invitation of President Russell M. Nelson and intently come unto the Savior by identifying those muscles that need more spiritual activity and starting to exercise them. This is a long-distance race, a marathon, rather than a sprint, so do not forget those small but constant spiritual activities that will strengthen those important spiritual muscles. If we want to increase our faith, then let’s do things that require faith.

As always, remember who you are, keep studying the New Testament with me, keep praying, keep the commandments, make the changes in your lives that you need to --- if your need to, I am always making changes through repentance and then doing my best to get back on the path back to our Heavenly Father😊

We need to keep doing those things which help us to exercise our spiritual muscles because in this day of constant turmoil and change we must be spiritually strong. Let’s work on this together! And until my next post, please make it a great week😊