Thoughts

There are many principles that I learned each week studying the New Testament.  However, there are three principles that really stood up to me.  These are characteristics that the Savior Jesus Christ has.  These principles are patience, submissiveness, and humbleness.  Throughout the scriptures in the four gospels, the Savior Jesus Christ talks about these principles and also sets an example by following those principles.  Jesus Christ had a purpose to accomplish when he came to Earth.  Because of those characteristics, he was able to accomplish his goal.  Just like Jesus Christ, we all have a goal to pursue while we are here on this Earth, and that is to attain eternal life in the highest degree of Glory.  The three principles that I found are very essential for me to reach my eternal goal.  


Depending on the road that we choose, our lives can be full of blessings.  However, the more knowledge we have, the more accountable we become for our actions, and also bigger the trials that we get.  As we know, Heavenly Father will not give us a trial without preparing the way for us to overcome it.  To do this, we need patience, which is one of the most important principles I learned about.  I am at a stage of my life right now where I need patience.  I am a mother, wife, and student and there are times when I need to be patient.  There is a scripture in Luke 21:19 that says “In your patience possess ye your souls.”  I looked up the definition for soul which helped me understand better what it meant by “possess ye your souls.”  This scripture talks about being patient to help our soul endure until the end.  If we are not patient and we do not endure the trials we’ll face in life, we can lose our soul to the enemy.  Patience is absolutely necessary for us to preserve our souls to the right purpose, because we can still have our soul and body reunited after the resurrection, but in the presence of the enemy instead of the presence of God.  Now that I am married and a mother, my patience is tested more and more each day.  However, I feel that with prayer, family home evening, and a lot of communication, my patience is a little better now.  Patience is a working process, it does not happen right away.  The experiences I am living now and that I will have in the future will make me more patients.


The principle of patience brings me to my second principle, which is submissiveness.  Jesus Christ is the perfect example of submissiveness.  He did the will of the Father without any complaints.  He showed how much he loves Heavenly Father by doing his will.  The first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord God with all your heart, soul and mind.  This is the reason why we accept and do the will of the Father, because we love him.  In order to accept the will of the Father, we need to truly love Him and be submissive.  The Savior showed this by partaking of the bitter cup.  When he asked for the cup to be removed, he said “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42).  His motivation to do what he was commanded was the love he had for the Father.  Learning about submissiveness from the Lord has made me realize that by obeying the Commandments and keeping my covenants is a way of submitting to the will of the Father.  When accepting the outcome of a trial we are also showing submissiveness.  I have had my share of trials, and remembering that the outcome will be in God’s hands helps me understand that things will not always go my way.  


The last principle I want to talk about is humbleness.  I feel that the quality of being humble is the outcome of the first two principles I talked about.  A person can’t be humble if there is no patience and submissiveness.  The reason why Jesus Christ is so humble is because he is very patient and submissive.  The Lord never boasted about his Godly Status.  He always made it clear that what he was doing was to glorify the Father and to do the will of the Father.  I realized I need to work on the first two principles to become humble.  What I love most about these three principles is that Jesus Christ was an example of all of them.  I love him, and I know that he lives; I know that he atoned for my sins, he is my redeemer.  I know that if he was able to partake of the bitter cup to do the will of the Father, I can also partake of my own trials with patience and submissiveness and become more Christ like.