As i watched this video about religious liberty, i was examining my own heart, and a thought dawned in my mind. "How can i stand for religious liberty when i don't have personal freedom from my sins?" Aren't they basically the same thing? Am i free to worship God in my personal life the way my heart wants me to be? What did i do when the thought came "You should read the scriptures?" How sincere was my prayer this morning? Did i sincerely seek the Lord like i sincerely sought lunch today? What inhibited me from worshiping the God i claim to love so much? Am in bondage to anything in my life that prevents me from worshipping my God even when external circumstances warrant it?
I've often felt that the external world is merely a reflection of an internal world, and our collective external world is a reflection of our collective internal world. (Ghandi was an amazing example of this. He first achieved liberation from the internal war, then helped others achieve spiritual liberation, and then won the external political battles liberating India from the control of the British.) So it is no surprise to me when i'm seeing spiritual bondage all over the place, to hear that religious liberty is under attack.
What i'm seeing though is a lot of well intentioned people getting "vocal" about protecting religious liberties by getting on social media, and clicking, posting, liking, and sharing. That's good, but it's not the best. The Savior said that we must "cleanse the inner vessel." We must first gain spiritual liberty before we can defend our religious liberty. We cannot fight like Captain Moroni for our our freedom of religion if we have not chosen "liberty and eternal life" by obeying the commands of Christ.
Obedience when followed precisely results in one amazing gift: charity. Charity is often viewed as feeling the fulness of God's love for other people, but that is a gross misinterpretation. Charity is described in both Lehi's dream, and Nephi's first vision, as the "love of God which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men (1 Nephi 11:22)." (If you'd like to know more about this, the book Following The Light of Christ Into His Presence, by John Pontius is an amazing resource!)
Charity, then, is the experience of feeling the fulness of God's love for me.
So what does that have to do with religious liberty, you might ask? Everything! If we are to take the Savior at his words, before we can help our brothers and sisters see the error of their ways, we must first have clear vision. We must cleanse the inner vessel, clean the windows, take of our dirty glasses, whatever the euphemism you understand or like, we need to stop talking about it, and do it! Fearless obedience is the very attribute that made Moroni so powerful! (Moroni 38:17) It's also what made the stripling warriors so powerful! We cannot defend ourselves from spiritual enemies if we aren't fully putting on our armor.
This is my vision: every priesthood holder powerfully discerning the influence of the Spirit of Christ, and learning to hold fast to every word which comes out of God's mouth. Every mother nurturing her children with the spirit of Christ in her heart, telling bedtime stories from the scriptures. Instilling faith in Jesus Christ at every opportunity. Taking advantage of every little revelation, every moment of conscience telling us to do something, every prompting, dutifully and faithfully obeyed, obeying because we recognize that those moments are opportunities to show our love for God.
I've often felt that the external world is merely a reflection of an internal world, and our collective external world is a reflection of our collective internal world. (Ghandi was an amazing example of this. He first achieved liberation from the internal war, then helped others achieve spiritual liberation, and then won the external political battles liberating India from the control of the British.) So it is no surprise to me when i'm seeing spiritual bondage all over the place, to hear that religious liberty is under attack.
What i'm seeing though is a lot of well intentioned people getting "vocal" about protecting religious liberties by getting on social media, and clicking, posting, liking, and sharing. That's good, but it's not the best. The Savior said that we must "cleanse the inner vessel." We must first gain spiritual liberty before we can defend our religious liberty. We cannot fight like Captain Moroni for our our freedom of religion if we have not chosen "liberty and eternal life" by obeying the commands of Christ.
Obedience when followed precisely results in one amazing gift: charity. Charity is often viewed as feeling the fulness of God's love for other people, but that is a gross misinterpretation. Charity is described in both Lehi's dream, and Nephi's first vision, as the "love of God which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men (1 Nephi 11:22)." (If you'd like to know more about this, the book Following The Light of Christ Into His Presence, by John Pontius is an amazing resource!)
Charity, then, is the experience of feeling the fulness of God's love for me.
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| Maybe if he'd cleaned his glasses... |
So what does that have to do with religious liberty, you might ask? Everything! If we are to take the Savior at his words, before we can help our brothers and sisters see the error of their ways, we must first have clear vision. We must cleanse the inner vessel, clean the windows, take of our dirty glasses, whatever the euphemism you understand or like, we need to stop talking about it, and do it! Fearless obedience is the very attribute that made Moroni so powerful! (Moroni 38:17) It's also what made the stripling warriors so powerful! We cannot defend ourselves from spiritual enemies if we aren't fully putting on our armor.
This is my vision: every priesthood holder powerfully discerning the influence of the Spirit of Christ, and learning to hold fast to every word which comes out of God's mouth. Every mother nurturing her children with the spirit of Christ in her heart, telling bedtime stories from the scriptures. Instilling faith in Jesus Christ at every opportunity. Taking advantage of every little revelation, every moment of conscience telling us to do something, every prompting, dutifully and faithfully obeyed, obeying because we recognize that those moments are opportunities to show our love for God.
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