Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Stick with it

D.C. 64:

33Wherefore, be not aweary in bwell-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of csmall things proceedeth that which is great.

34Behold, the Lord arequireth the bheart and a cwilling mind; and the willing and dobedient shall eeat the good of the land of Zion in these last days.

It's always worth it to stick with hard things. Consistently doing good things brings great rewards.

Also, I remember being on the mission teaching one girl in particular who was studying theology. She was very nice and good to talk to, but she never really committed to attending church. I thought, "just wait 20 or 40 years and it will become very plain to you that this church is everything we say it is." I really believe that. Anytime there's an inactive member I speak with who mentions concerns (often somewhat legitimate) about the church, I am willing to concede that it isn't perfect, but that it continually improves. It really does just get better and better over time. We will continue to see this happen over the next 20, 40, and 60 years.

A couple more verses illustrating this point: D.C. 64:

41For, behold, I say unto you that aZion shall flourish, and thebglory of the Lord shall be upon her;

42And she shall be an aensign unto the people, and there shall come unto her out of every bnation under heaven.

43And the day shall come when the nations of the earth shallatremble because of her, and shall fear because of her terrible ones. The Lord hath spoken it. Amen.

Also, D.C. 1 - the only "true and living church". Living church means it grows and adjusts:

30And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have apower to lay the foundation of this bchurch, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of cdarkness, the only true and living dchurch upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well epleased, fspeaking unto the church collectively and not individually—

Also, Jacob 5:

66For it grieveth me that I should lose the trees of my vineyard; wherefore ye shall clear away the bad according as the good shall grow, that the root and the top may be equal in strength, until the good shall overcome the bad, and the bad be hewn down and cast into the fire, that they cumber not the ground of my vineyard; and thus will I sweep away the bad out of my vineyard.

The bad is unlikely to be the bad in the world because we know they aren't cleared away until the Second Coming. However, the bad in the church apparently is slowly cleared away as the good grows.

So, it is very unwise to judge the church too harshly. It continues to improve and get better and better. And besides, "the church" isn't who gets judged in life. We do. "The church" is a vehicle to help all of us live better and receive a greater reward. So, enjoy your church experience, and don't worry, it'll keep getting better (even if it's already really good, or if it's been bad); God has told us so.

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