Personal Example in callings- 1 Corinthians 9

In a few weeks, I am in charge of talking to our primary teachers for five minutes about what import our example has on our teaching. We all know that "do as I say, not as I do," works miserably. I hear my own kids disciplining each other or dealing with frustration in the same way I do, and often, it makes me hang my head and wish I were better. Other times, I see them deal well with their problems and I feel proud of them and think, "Aren't they clever?"

This week, I was re-reading 1Nephi 20, and found the word declare used many times. I thought I'd follow the scriptures references for declare and came to some great verses in 1 Corinthians 9. Now, one worry our bishop has is that many people are coming to fulfill their callings, but skip sacrament all together (we have 9:00 church. After a full Saturday night, 9:00 is pretty difficult. I don't have full Saturday nights anymore. And I still have a hard time with 9:00, so I'm not trying to get on my high horse.) Here is the scripture I was led to in 1 Corinthians where Paul is speaking:

13Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?

14Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

What a great image- those beautiful old people (no offense intended to anyone who is "old"- if you were offended, you're probably old), shining with the joy of living the fullness of gospel, working at the altars of the temple. They have learned to sacrifice and faithfulness to God and family. I was thinking that to"live of the things of the temple" meant to do the things we covenant to in the temple. The next day, I went back to read it again, and found it had dual meaning. Paul meant that the priests of his day literally lived of the sacrifices of the temple, or ate the meat from the sacrifices. (I would like to go back in time and do a study of the cardiovascular systems of Levites versus other Israelite tribes.) It means a full internalization or consumption of the things of the temple. They which preach the gospel should live of the gospel- on a superficial and a profound level.

Then, I was led to this scripture in 2 Corinthians 3:2:

Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men.

Since we see ourselves so seldom, I think we trick ourselves into thinking that everyone sees us as we see ourselves. But we are so merciful to ourselves, and think we see others clearly. We are epistles of our lives, known and read of all men whether we like it or not. And when we teach, there is nothing more telling than this epistle. Especially children. Bishop Burton has said in General Conference (Oct. 2001, but I think more recently as well because I remember it very clearly,)

. . . remember, young people can detect hypocrisy as easily as they can smell the wonderful aroma of freshly baked bread.

It leaves us empty and hungry to say one thing and do another, (cognitive dissonance, for all of those psychologists out there.) And it leaves our children empty and confused when they hear one thing and see another.

Continuing on the theme of food as a deep, fulfilling sustenance coming from doing what is right, Paul continues to quote part of the law of Moses to help us understand:

9. For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?

The Lord's character is revealed through the Law of Moses- if an animal is serving us, we are to allow it to eat freely as it does the work. Doth God take care for the oxen? No, Paul says, he just cares about teaching us. Though I'm sure the Lord does care for the oxen, an ox can't read; he wants to teach us that when we do his work, he will feed us. As we tread out the corn, we are to eat freely! We are taught the same thing by the way the Lord provided for the Levite priests of old. He taught the law of sacrifice while feeding his servants as well. The next verse, 1 Corinthians 9:10 says,

Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.

We can go about "smelling" the blessings of the gospel without eating them, or we can fully partake of the feast the Lord has prepared for us through our callings and full church activity. As teachers , we plow in hope, and those who thresh, or listen, should be partakers of our hope. As we feed them, we feed ourselves.

We lived after the manner of happiness- from a parenting perspective

(I chose this picture because it reminds me of when J. and I were married- after the wedding breakfast, we hiked up to this viewpoint of the temple and talked about goals. Today is our 9th anniversary, and I am so grateful for those covenants and the blessings that have come in my life because of them.)

I was talking to a friend last night about making decisions about what is best for our kids. She has in-laws who are mission presidents and said they had stated that from their perspective, the two most important things to teach your kids are

1. to be responsible
2. to work hard

That sounds pretty good to me, but I would also add the first and greatest commandment, to love God, and secondly, to love others.

Today, I was reading 2 Nephi 5, and Nephi explaining their lives, building in a new land, he says, "we lived after the manner of happiness."

If you assume our main goal is happiness for our children in this life and the next, you can study Nephi's method of living to arrive at "the manner of happiness." Following is a list from the chapter of the things they did:

1. Build a temple. (vs. 16) We should have as our ultimate goal to help our kids arrive at the temple ready to make and keep covenants.
2. Sow seed and reap again in abundance. (vs. 11) Nephi means gardening, but I think it could apply to all types of projects these days- keeping in mind that the seeds we sow must be worthwhile, meaning, we reap the rewards in abundance.
3. They listened to a prophet who kept them safe (vs. 6) and they believed in the warnings and revelations of God.
4. They separated themselves from wickedness (vs. 7).
5. They kept the commandments (vs. 10)
6. They had kids (vs. 13)
7. They prepared for the future and to protect their families from the dangers facing them (vs. 14)
8. They built buildings and learned trades- working with wood, iron, copper, brass, steel, gold, and silver. They were industrious and learned to "labor with their hands" and have jobs. (vs. 15, vs. 17) Nephi always amazes me- he was an incredible craftsman on top of all other things.
9. Soften their hearts toward the Lord (like the Lamanites didn't in verse 21).
10. Marry well (vs. 23, looking at the cursing as a spiritual cursing)
11. Keep records from which to learn (vs. 31-33)

So, working hard and being responsible work pretty well with Nephi's version of "the manner of happiness." This chapter reminds me of something Joseph and I were inspired to teach our family. We were in the temple for a special ward temple session and a member of the temple presidency was speaking to us. He said this phrase in his talk, and that's about all I remember: Come to become.
We talked about it and decided to make that the theme of everything we invite our children to participate in with our family. Come to prayer and scripture study to become an eternal family. If we are teaching something, we invite them, reminding them to come to become. Nephi didn't force anyone to join him as he left Laman and Lemuel, but he invited them.
My vision (which isn't yet complete) is to have in our living room a beautiful picture of the temple and underneath it the phrase, Come to become, inviting my children to look to the temple covenants as their goal that they may become the Children of Christ, and not just mine. And I hope to teach a little hard work and responsibility along the way.

2 Nephi 2:24

I am amazed at the clarity of this chapter on opposition, freedom to choose, the redemption from the fall, and happiness. A short verse I haven't noticed before popped out at me, verse 24. It says,

But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.

Try to imagine knowing all things. Take some time to remember that you don't know everything, and then think of God as one who knows all things- past, present, and future, through the vast expanse of space. And remember that he has done all things HIS wisdom, not ours. Then, remember the next verse,

. . . Men are, that they might have joy.

Now remember how much God loves you and desires only your eternal joy. It's was nice to put my life in perspective remembering that short, basic verse.