1 Nephi 2:19
"And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Blessed art thou, Nephi, because of thy faith, for thou hast sought me diligently, with lowliness of heart."
What do we learn about Nephi here? He has faith. That part is not a surprise. The important part is to see the corresponding actions that go with his faith. In Nephi's life, the faith he possesses is actually a catalyst that drives him to seek the Lord more. And we see here what happens when he seeks -- he finds.
As a parent, I can honestly say that the 'end' of this particular search is what I want for all of my children. I want them to 'FIND' the Lord. It doesn't have to be a vision, or a voice, or anything spectacular. But when they seek, I want them to feel the joy that comes when they know -- KNOW -- that the Lord is real.
* Teach them that if they will exercise their faith to seek the Lord diligently, they will find Him.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Lessons from 1 Nephi 2:17-18
1 Nephi 2:17-18
And I spake unto Sam, making known unto him the things which the Lord had manifested unto me by his Holy Spirit. And it came to pass that he believed in my words.
But, behold, Laman and Lemuel would not hearken unto my words; and being grieved because of the hardness of their hearts I cried unto the Lord for them.
After Nephi's experience with prayer, he is so excited that he wants to tell his brothers. He tells Sam first, possibly because he saw Sam first, or possibly because he knew Sam and predicted that Sam would listen. But either way, Sam listens and believes.
He then ventures to tell Laman and Lemuel, hoping that his experience will soften their hearts as well, but it doesn't work. Nephi is grieved by this and cries to the Lord again -- this time FOR Laman and Lemuel. He doesn't pray for himself. He prays for them. This was actually impressive to me. Sometimes when we say things and nobody believes us, we feel rejected and need to pray for comfort because of all the rotten things people end up saying about US when we try to correct them. Not Nephi though. His own confidence is unshaken, and he prays for THEM.
Lessons:
* Teach your children to love each other. Hopefully they will love each other so much that they will want to SHARE their spiritual experiences with each other. Sam didn't necessarily have the proactive faith to ask for himself, but because Nephi was willing to share HIS experience and testimony, Sam benefited from it and was able to more easily believe the words of his father. Sometimes children listen to each other more readily than they listen to parents or leaders, so it is incredibly valuable to teach them to teach and testify to each other!
* Along with that, we must teach them to LISTEN to each other when they are sharing these kind of spiritual experiences or testifying. Sam was only able to benefit from Nephi's spiritual experience because he was willing to LISTEN to Nephi.
* Teach your children to pray for each other.
* Teach your children that even when you are doing the right thing, and even when you love people and share your spiritual experiences with them, they still might not listen to you or believe you. This is not a time to wallow in misery, but a time to turn to the Lord and pray for THEM.
And I spake unto Sam, making known unto him the things which the Lord had manifested unto me by his Holy Spirit. And it came to pass that he believed in my words.
But, behold, Laman and Lemuel would not hearken unto my words; and being grieved because of the hardness of their hearts I cried unto the Lord for them.
After Nephi's experience with prayer, he is so excited that he wants to tell his brothers. He tells Sam first, possibly because he saw Sam first, or possibly because he knew Sam and predicted that Sam would listen. But either way, Sam listens and believes.
He then ventures to tell Laman and Lemuel, hoping that his experience will soften their hearts as well, but it doesn't work. Nephi is grieved by this and cries to the Lord again -- this time FOR Laman and Lemuel. He doesn't pray for himself. He prays for them. This was actually impressive to me. Sometimes when we say things and nobody believes us, we feel rejected and need to pray for comfort because of all the rotten things people end up saying about US when we try to correct them. Not Nephi though. His own confidence is unshaken, and he prays for THEM.
Lessons:
* Teach your children to love each other. Hopefully they will love each other so much that they will want to SHARE their spiritual experiences with each other. Sam didn't necessarily have the proactive faith to ask for himself, but because Nephi was willing to share HIS experience and testimony, Sam benefited from it and was able to more easily believe the words of his father. Sometimes children listen to each other more readily than they listen to parents or leaders, so it is incredibly valuable to teach them to teach and testify to each other!
* Along with that, we must teach them to LISTEN to each other when they are sharing these kind of spiritual experiences or testifying. Sam was only able to benefit from Nephi's spiritual experience because he was willing to LISTEN to Nephi.
* Teach your children to pray for each other.
* Teach your children that even when you are doing the right thing, and even when you love people and share your spiritual experiences with them, they still might not listen to you or believe you. This is not a time to wallow in misery, but a time to turn to the Lord and pray for THEM.
Lessons from 1 Nephi 2:16
1 Nephi 2:16
And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.
This verse is amazing in that it gives us a little bit of insight into Nephi's own character, where the story up until this point has focused more on Lehi and the other members of the family. We get to see the contrast between how Laman and Lemuel respond to their father's call and how Nephi responds.
I love that Nephi describes himself as "having great desires to know of the mysteries of God," and that this great desire was the driving force behind his response, where he "did cry unto the Lord." It is actually very similar to the message we find in James 1:5 -- If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God... But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering..." That was Nephi. He had questions. He knew that he needed help understanding, so he asked God, with a heart full of faith, and he got his answer. He no longer had to trust only in his father; he could trust that his father had been called of God.
It is also interesting to me that Nephi says that his heart was softened, which vaguely implies that it NEEDED softening in the first place. It seems very probable to me that Nephi wasn't very excited about going into the desert either, but that this experience with prayer helped him to see more clearly, to a point where he did NOT rebel as he might have initially.
Lessons:
* Sometimes the most important thing our children need to know is WHERE the commandment comes from. It is a lot easier for them to rebel against their crazy parents, giving them crazy rules and directions, than it is for them to rebel against something they KNOW comes from God. (But make sure it really comes from God before you give them direction claiming it comes from God... Make sure you're not misinterpreting the commandments, or this can backfire in a big way!)
* For Nephi, it seems that one of the things that potentially CHANGED him the most, was that he was willing to go to the Lord with his questions instead of letting them fester to a point of rebellion. We need to teach our children that if they EVER doubt us, or if they EVER doubt what any of their other leaders are saying, then they can "cry unto the Lord" and He WILL answer.
And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.
This verse is amazing in that it gives us a little bit of insight into Nephi's own character, where the story up until this point has focused more on Lehi and the other members of the family. We get to see the contrast between how Laman and Lemuel respond to their father's call and how Nephi responds.
I love that Nephi describes himself as "having great desires to know of the mysteries of God," and that this great desire was the driving force behind his response, where he "did cry unto the Lord." It is actually very similar to the message we find in James 1:5 -- If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God... But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering..." That was Nephi. He had questions. He knew that he needed help understanding, so he asked God, with a heart full of faith, and he got his answer. He no longer had to trust only in his father; he could trust that his father had been called of God.
It is also interesting to me that Nephi says that his heart was softened, which vaguely implies that it NEEDED softening in the first place. It seems very probable to me that Nephi wasn't very excited about going into the desert either, but that this experience with prayer helped him to see more clearly, to a point where he did NOT rebel as he might have initially.
Lessons:
* Sometimes the most important thing our children need to know is WHERE the commandment comes from. It is a lot easier for them to rebel against their crazy parents, giving them crazy rules and directions, than it is for them to rebel against something they KNOW comes from God. (But make sure it really comes from God before you give them direction claiming it comes from God... Make sure you're not misinterpreting the commandments, or this can backfire in a big way!)
* For Nephi, it seems that one of the things that potentially CHANGED him the most, was that he was willing to go to the Lord with his questions instead of letting them fester to a point of rebellion. We need to teach our children that if they EVER doubt us, or if they EVER doubt what any of their other leaders are saying, then they can "cry unto the Lord" and He WILL answer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
