I want to share some things that I learned from John Bytheway while driving around town today because though I always learn a lot from him, these particular talks were just what I needed today.
He reminded me that the devil offers us short term happiness and long term discipline while the gospel offers us long term happiness with short term discipline. The gospel isn’t meant to hold us back or prevent us from having fun, it is to protect us from the wickedness of the world and to bring us true happiness. Eternal happiness. But we need to remember that even the righteous have trials. None of us are free from affliction in this life and we will all go through hard trials that we may not understand or feel like we deserve. It is in these struggles that we need to remember that we learn and grow more from the tough times than the easy times.
Isn’t it when we feel like we have nothing that we rely more heavily on our Savior Jesus Christ? Isn’t it when we have nothing left to hold onto that we strengthen our testimonies? Isn’t it during the hard times that we fall apart and come back together stronger than before? The Lord knows that we need bad times to appreciate the good. In the scriptures, Joseph Smith shares that there must be opposition in all things. And it’s true! When we are humbled and reminded of the great blessings of even the simple things in our lives, we tend to appreciate them more in our lives when things are good. As made evident in the scriptures, we are human and we often forget the Lord and the blessings He bestows upon us when life gets too easy. And sometimes we attribute our success to ourselves or use our gifts in selfish ways. The Lord gives us trials to build us up, make us stronger, and remind us that we must never stop striving to progress in His gospel.
Because, in the gospel of Jesus Christ you must always be moving. There is no such thing as standing still. You are always moving, either in a good direction or a bad direction. Some people (in biblical times as well as modern times) get too comfortable where they are in the gospel and they plateau. At first this might seem ok. They like where they are once they do well and they might not continue to climb upward, but they seem to be staying at the same level. While it might seem like nothing changes for them, that is simply not true. They cannot stay immovable forever. They must either choose to keep working hard to make their way up the mountain of the gospel or to slowly let the gospel slip farther and farther out of their lives.
I’ve seen this happen in my own life and it is so hard to come back from. Habits are hard to break and just a little slip, though seemingly harmless, can be catastrophic to our spiritual well being. It is the simple, little day to day things that make a difference. The primary answers of scripture study, prayer, and attending church. It might not seem like a big deal to just skip reading scriptures for one day when you are tired or not attend church because your family is in town but the thing with the gospel is that all of the choices we make either bring us closer too or farther away from Christ.
So any decisions we make that don’t follow the commandments or strengthen our testimonies, though it might not destroy our love for the Lord and His gospel or negatively affect our spirits that much, it also doesn’t work to grow it. So our spiritual growth becomes stagnant for awhile and like a muscle, our testimonies will begin to decay if we don’t work to up keep them. We will get into the habit of not doing the important day to day things and suddenly we will find ourselves in trouble when we are in church and realize that we don’t even have a testimony.
I beg of you, please please do the daily things. Start your day off right with the scriptures, don’t put it off. It might seem like the same thing to read right before bed and it definitely is a good way to end the day and settle down for bed, but I cannot begin to express the outcome studying the Lord’s word before you start the day has onmyour day. I just have a brighter outlook on life and a more positive attitude. Start your day off right with the Lord by your side.
And isn’t it nice to know that “our afflictions will be but a small moment” (D&C 121:7)? The Lord told Joseph Smith this comforting truth and it rings true for all of us. When we look at life with an eternal perspective, starting in the premortal life that we can’t even remember and going far beyond this life, aren’t the trials of mortality but a small moment in an eternity of joy?!
Another thing that I just started trying to get into the habit of is not only saying prayers at night and at meals but in the morning before I get ready for the day. I used to think this was pointless. I mean I’m going to go eat breakfast shortly after I get up anyways and I already pray several times a day with meals and bedtime prayers. But I have come to learn that morning prayers are a little bit different than night time prayers. They are more focused on preparing for the day and asking for strength or guidance throughout your day than for reflecting on the Lord’s hand in your day and thanking Him for blessings.
You can ask for anything in any prayer but for me atleast, I find that my morning prayers are to start my day off talking with my Father in Heaven and to ask for the strength to get through the day. For things like, help drawing closer to Him and opportunities to serve or to help me be motivated and positive as I go throughout my day. My bedtime prayers are for things like thanking God for blessings, asking for forgiveness for the things I did poorly during the day, or asking for help for the next day.
Prayers are personal and individual to everyone, so what your prayers look like might not be like mine. I just wanted to share what I have learned from my perspective. So don’t worry if you are reading this and nothing that I feel is the same for you because the gospel is very personalized. All of the eternal truths and commandments are the same for everyone but the process of discipleship is different for everyone. And what works for one might not for the other. Part of our journey is figuring out what works for us in all aspects of our lives and striving to do our best in all of them.
We will all go through storms in this life, but if we choose to draw closer to Christ and rely on Him during the hard times, then He will help us bear our burden. “Come unto me, all ye that Labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” He says it right there in Matthew 11:28-30, if we rely on Christ and draw closer to Him during our trials then He will help us get through them. Isn’t that a comforting thought? To know that the Savior can be right there beside you to help you when you are struggling if you choose to turn to Him.
Now notice that He doesn’t say that He will take the trial from you or make it super easy. Christ isn’t there to take the hardships away, we need them to learn and grow. But He is there to help us carry our yoke and ease our burdens. Living the gospel doesn’t make life perfect, but is sure is easier to live with the help offered by the Lord and His gospel than to go through life without it. We still have to do our part and work hard, have dissapointment, hardships, trials, tribulation, heartache, etc in life. But with the Lord on our side we can receive heavenly strength and come out stronger than before.
No matter what you have or are going through, don’t let tragedy define your life. You are still here, so your work is not finished yet. This thought really touched me as someone who struggles with depression and often feels worthless. I recently attempted suicide and sometimes I wonder why I’m still here. I often feel like a failure or inadequate to be a righteous and strong disciple. And I felt the spirit speak to me so strongly when Brother Bytheway reminded me that if I am still here then I have a work to do. And it’s not to sit around and feel sorry about myself, but to bring others to Christ and to share my talents, love, knowledge, etc. The same goes for you! No matter how you have felt or what you have done, you have a work to do! You are still here on this earth and you have the chance to make a difference. The Lord needs you!
One cool scripture that Brother Bytheway shared was Romans 8:35, 38-39 which says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, not things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Don’t you just love that?! Christ loves us so much that nothing can separate us from His love. Nothing has the power to overcome the love of Christ unless we let it. Being truly converted to the gospel is a choice, and an important one that we need to make and commit too. The love of Christ is so strong that nothing can overpower it!! What more proof do you need that your Father in Heaven and Savior, Jesus Christ love you so much that you can’t even comprehend it!
Christ willingly suffered and died for each and every one of us because He wanted us to be able to be have a second chance when we messed up. Can you imagine a love so strong that you willingly suffer unimaginable agony just to bring others joy? That is how much you Savior loves you. And one of the most important decisions we will ever make on this earth is to come unto Him.
This leads us right into the next scripture that I wanted to share from Brother Bytheway’s talk, Moroni 7:45-47. “And Charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Wherefore my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail. But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.”
Charity is the pure love of Christ, the unfailing, infinite love that the Lord has for us. Did you hear how powerful and important charity is? It is not only being Christ-like but being filled with the love of Christ. It is the greatest attribute of all and one that we should strive to develop in our lives. It will bring us so much joy to develop this trait. It will change the way we see and react to the world. And it will change our world.
Another scripture I found interesting in His talk was Doctrine and Covenants 42:46 which says, “and it shall come to pass that those that die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them.” I don’t know about you guys, but I find this scripture comforting. It doesn’t mean that we won’t ever die, for a vital part of the plan of salvation is to end our mortal life before being resurrected and gaining eternal life. But I believe that it references spiritual death. That we will never experience spiritual death and our mortal death shall be a cause to celebrate because we will go back home to our Father in Heaven where we shall live forever with Him.
I don’t know about you, but death has always been a fear for me. Maybe that is because death is such a mystery and has so many possibilities. One thing that I love so much about the gospel of Jesus Christ is that we don’t have to fear death. Because the Lord will be with us if we choose to be with Him and our mortal death will be when we return home. It is not a cause to dread but a reason to rejoice. It will be a day filled with so much joy when the veil is lifted and we finally remember and recognize our dear Father in Heaven and Savior, Jesus Christ. They will be filled with so much love for us and so will we for them. I just find this reminder beautiful and am comforted to know that death isn’t the end but the beginning of something even more beautiful.
One last thing that I would like to talk about from Brother Bytheway’s talk is the armor of God. He brought up a good point, we can’t just strive to live the gospel of Jesus Christ but we must defend it and fight for it. Ephesians 6:14-17 explains the different parts of our heavenly armor. It says, “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness. And your feet shod with the preparation of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.”
Not only must we put on the armor of God daily but we must wield the sword of the spirit. We must not just protect ourselves and watch as the world turns more wicked, but we must let the spirit guide us through these troubled times and have the courage to stand up for what we know is right. We must fight the good fight with love and faith in the Lord and not give satan a chance to get through a chink in our armor. Because satan was there in heaven with us. He knows us and he knows what each of us struggle with. He knows how to best manipulate us and desires to make us miserable like unto himself. And we must always have on the full armor of God to protect us from his fiery darts.
I would like to bear my testimony that our Father in Heaven loves us very much. And so does His beloved son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. They know and love each and everyone of you. And they are always there to help us through the hardest trials of life. All we have to do is ask for their help. Do the simple things, they are the most important. Read your scriptures, pray, go to church, and attend the temple and you will have the guidance and strength to overcome your trials. Pray for help and turn towards the Lord in all that you do and He will direct you. Put on the full armor of God everyday and stay focused on the gospel and the devil will have no power over you. You are doing better than you think you are. You got this!
Thanks for taking your time to share your testimony, it's good for everyone!
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