Above Yourself

Beth asks “what’s your favorite scripture?” I’m going to bend the rules and use two that have been favorites for a while. By themselves they are both great scriptures, but together they have a deeper meaning, I think. Here they are:

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Joshua 1:9

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.

Ether 12:27-28

These scriptures both share the message of humility. Joshua 1:9 is something of a “go and do” scripture, but it has a little more meaning to me, and I even chose it for my missionary plaque. Ether 12 is a chapter that helped me a lot as a missionary, and it has helped me a lot since then as well. In my mind, returning to the Lord and displaying humility is one of the most important lessons that we can learn (and re-learn!) in our lives, because it brings other things along with it. Together, these scriptures both show us that as we trust in the Lord and lean on Him, he will lift us up and strengthen us. This didn’t just apply to Joshua or Moroni, either – this promise has been repeated to us as well.

If you haven’t already shared a favorite scripture or scriptures, feel free to do it in the comments here, in your own blog, or over on Beth’s post.

Life is busy. The to-do list is growing. Where do I find the time to do the things that I know are important, but just don’t fit into a day? Often it’s about compromises, but I’m trying to learn to make routines that combine the things that are important to me. For example, if I want to go on a walk, I can take along my MP3 player loaded with a book on tape or the scriptures. Since I just finished listening to an audiobook in the car, I need something new. I think I’ve finally graduated from the radio, because I get annoyed by the fact that even the stations I listened to in high school play more music I don’t like than music I do like. These are just two situations where I can incorporate something spiritual to that list, such as listening to Jesus the Christ or the Book of Mormon, both of which are free at audio.lds.org. Take a look at that site, because it’s full of great things to listen to that you can download for free. Adding little spiritual activities into a routine is a great way to promote those important goals off the to-do list and into habits.