Truth is
the issue. When we aren’t honest with ourselves, we can’t be honest with God.
And if we aren’t honest with God, we can’t receive honesty from him; light
cleaveth to light, virtue loveth virtue, truth embraceth truth (DYC 88:40). By
being honest with ourselves and with God about where our flesh is in its
progression from sensuality to sainthood, we can begin to shatter the illusion
of lies that we’ve been living under. When that illusion that we called life
begins to crumble in the scorching heat of truth and honesty the only thing
left is a new life to live, a new heart, and a new song to sing; when we become
completely self-honest in the light of God’s love we are reborn.
Enzio
Busche said “Enlightened
by the Spirit of truth, we will then be able to pray for the increased ability
to endure truth and not to be made angry by it (see 2 Nephi 28:28). In the
depth of such a prayer, we may finally be led to that lonesome place where we
suddenly see ourselves naked in all soberness. Gone are all the little lies of
self-defense. We see ourselves in our vanities and false hopes for carnal
security. We are shocked to see our many deficiencies, our lack of gratitude
for the smallest things. We are now at that sacred place that seemingly only a
few have courage to enter, because this is that horrible place of unquenchable
pain in fire and burning.”
Two examples from the scriptures
that come to my mind are that of King Benjamin, and also Alma the Younger.
Benjamin uses honesty as a sword to cut the people down to their core, the
honest truth that they are less than the dust of the earth. Alma the younger is
cut to the core by honesty and suffers the pains of a damned soul for 3 days!
Make no mistakes my brothers and sisters, rebirth
is painful, probably as painful as giving birth the natural way. (I’ve never
given birth, nor have I yet had the complete rebirth, but from what I’m
reading, it’s pretty miserable. Though King Benjamin’s people had a quick labor
and Alma the younger had a really long
labor, they both had pretty unhappy feelings at the time of their
honesty/conversion (see Alma 36:13-16; Mosiah 4:1-2).)
What sparked this was a Sunday
School lesson I attended a few weeks ago that’s still sitting with me. We
talked about honesty, and Jeremiah, and the new heart and several other things,
but what I’m still chewing on was 4 questions that my teacher gave us. He told
us the story of being in a class in college and pairing off with another
student, and the instructions for the day were basically thus: ask your partner
the questions, and then have your partner ask you the questions, and then ask
your partner the questions again, and then have him ask you the questions
again, and do this over and over until class is over or you’re crying too much
to function. You cannot say anything to your partner when you’re asking the
questions, you can only ask the question and then sit silently while they
answer the question.
My teacher said that by the 4th
time around he was a crying wreck. Want the questions? Here they are:
1.
What
do you want?
2.
Why
do you want that?
3.
What
have you been willing to do to get that?
4.
What
haven’t you been willing to do?
Pretty simple eh? Well by small and
simple things, great things are brought to pass! He said the first time he was
pretty superficial, and the next time around he got a little deeper, and the
next time it was a little deeper, and eventually he had several breakthroughs
and made some really amazing changes.
Self-honesty in the Light of Christ
is the essence of the ancient art of Alchemy. Christ will take the most mundane
feelings of our heart, and when examined in the light of truth and honesty,
they will transform before our eyes into humility, truth, love, and gratitude.
He offers us eternal life, and immortality, but he also offers to turn our
ashes to beauty and our worthless offerings to Gold! (Isn’t that awesome?!)
So how do we get self-honest? Well,
there’s several ways! A few are listed in the Book of Mormon! 1) Be taught by
an amazing missionary like Ammon, Benjamin, or Nephi (son of Nephi). 2) Get
visited by an angel because of your father’s righteousness and prayers on your
behalf! (Be warned, this didn’t work for Laman and Lemuel because they couldn’t
get self-honest and stay
self-honest.) 3) Alma 42:30. 4) Contemplate, ponder, study, pray, and fast
about how you can have this type of experience every week during the ordinance
of the Sacrament. 5) Ask yourself those 4 questions, or better yet, have
someone else ask you those 4 questions and follow those rules! 6) Read Truth Is The Issue by F. Enzio Busche in
the October 1993 General Conference, and learn more about truth. 7) The
12-steps of addiction recovery! They’re an amazing resource for personal growth
and transformation. If you want a true spiritual rebirth, check those out!
They’re amazing. You might need a sponsor to help you understand them, but if
you look for one, look for someone who has had the change that you’re looking
for. 8) Meditation. A personal favorite of mine! It’s amazing what a little
stillness can do for clearing your head, and helping you see things more
honestly. 9) Journaling. I teach this to all my students. A piece of paper and
pen is the cheapest therapy you’ll ever have. Just start writing down all your
thoughts and feelings onto a piece of paper, and just get honest. Anything that
pops into your head, or any feelings that you have, write it down! This is a
zero-judgment zone. One time I wrote in my journal that I’m afraid of food. No
judgment.
Okay! Well that was a ton of
information for you! I hope you find this helpful and that it helps you
experience conversion, rebirth, and a new life in Christ.
