I call this the cafeteria approach to obedience. Warn them that they will encounter people who pick which commandments they will keep and ignore others that they choose to break. President Nelson in his April 2011 General Conference address titled Face the Future with Faith said the following about obedience and its blessings:Teach of faith to keep all the commandments of God, knowing that they are given to bless His children and bring them joy. One of these blessings I have felt from entering the covenant path and adhering to God’s laws is the blessing of peace. I experienced what we hear in the song, Peace in Christ:He gives us hopeWhen hope is goneHe gives us strengthWhen we can't go onHe gives us shelterIn the storms of lifeWhen there's no peace on EarthThere is peace in ChristIn D&C 130:20-21, we read:20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated-21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.We learn in these verses that blessings come from obeying God’s laws. I never had truly read the scriptures before, and the words I was reading spoke to me in ways I never felt before. Yes, I was baptized when I was eight, but I don’t feel I truly entered the covenant path until I actively lived the covenants. However, I believe the main reason was my true in-depth study of the scriptures that started around the time of seminary. Yes, I grew several inches to bring my height on par with most people my age. Yes, I was able to ditch the bottle cap glasses after constantly pleading to my mom. I admit that my responses were not very courteous either as I was trying to defend myself, but I was at a loss of what to do.Conversely, my ninth-grade year and high school years were the best years of my childhood. This led to thoughts where I questioned my self-worth and even contemplated thoughts of suicide. I felt that there was an incident nearly every day where people pushed me, tripped me, said mean things, called me names, picked me last for teams, excluded me from some activities, accused me of making pot, spit out and slapped a loogie on my leg, and so on. My mom, doing the best she knew how, told me to stand up for myself and fight back however, I think this only fueled the fire as those who picked on me got the reaction they wanted, so they kept coming back for more. I was constantly and relentlessly picked on. These issues altogether led many to pick on me. Additionally, I was a very competitive child (and still am), and I had thick bottle cap glasses (before Lasik my vision was 20/1500 or -5 in contacts). It wasn’t until the eighth to ninth grade summer that I had a growth spurt. Like one of my sons, I was very short for most of my young life. Countless stories have been recounted about the peace people have felt when they entered the covenant path. Three main topics come to my mind when I think of what brings me peace: entering the covenant path, receiving all of God’s ordinances, and living our covenants.Entering the Covenant PathEntering the covenant path was the first critical step for me to start receiving peace in my life. This causes me to reflect on what truly brings peace in my life. For us as a family, we have an advent calendar where we read a daily scripture and hang an ornament that reminds us of what Christ has done for us. We often reflect on Christ and what he means in our life. Additionally with the Christmas season, we celebrate He who brings the truest happiness and peace we can feel. I love seeing the serene and pristine landscape of newly fallen snow, I love sledding with my kids, I love a good hot chocolate, I love watching the flames flicker in our fireplace, and I love to cuddle up with my wife. However, I love this season for a variety of reasons. Some people have a hard time with this season with the colder temperatures, brutal wind, browner vegetation, and dangerous travel conditions. The topic I will discuss with you today is how I find peace in Christ.
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