Sunday, January 8, 2012

A PLACE FOR THE SAVIOR IN OUR LIVES

Today, more than any other time, we have many distractions.  We have little or no time for things that matter most.  At some point we need to push aside daily chores, work responsibilities, time wasters, etc. so that we have time to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

This requires a little bit of sacrifice on our part.  The Savior has asked many to stop what they are doing so that he can give them what they need.  He asks us to be actively engaged in developing a relationship with Him.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, "My desire today is for all of us...to have more straight forward personal experience with the Savior's example.  Sometimes we seek heaven too obliquely, focusing on programs or history or the experience of others.  Those are important but not as important as personal experience, true discipleship, and the strength that comes from experiencing firsthand the majesty of His touch" ("Broken Things to Mend," Ensign, May 2006, 70).

We need to stop and listen.  We need to pray about what we have been taught by the Savior and then act.  We need to do as the Savior.  When we live our life as the Savior did we will know Him better.

George Albert Smith, the eighth President of the church, understood at a very young age how to live as the Savior did.  He knew the Savior intimately.  At the age of 34 he made a list that he called his "personal creed". 

When I read the list of 11 ideals that he committed to live by, I realized that he was modeling his life after the Savior's.  And it wasn't just a list.  President Smith was exactly what he committed to being.  He knew the Savior intimately and he emmulated the Savior, a testament to his committment to make the Savior a major part of his life.

Do you have a place in your life for the Savior?  If you do just one thing from President Smith's list you will be one step closer to knowing Jesus Christ; developing a personal relationship.

George Albert Smith's Personal Creed

1.  "I would be a friend to the friendless and find joy in ministering to the needs of the poor.

2.  "I would visit the sick and afflicted and inspire in them a desire for faith to be healed.

3.  "I would teach the truth to the understanding and blessing of all mankind.

4.  "I would seek out the erring one and try to win him back to a righteous and a happy life.

5.  "I would not seek to force people to live up to my ideals but rather love them into doing the thing that is right.

6.  "I would live with the masses and help to solve their problems that their earth life may be happy.

7.  "I would avoid the publicity of high positions and discourage the flattery of thoughtless friends.

8.  "I would not knowingly wound the feelings of any, not even one who may have wronged me, but would seek to do him good and make him my friend.

9.  "I would overcome the tendency to selfishness and jealousy and rejoice in the successes of all the children of my Heavenly Father.

10.  "I would not be an enemy to any living soul.

11.  "Knowing that the Redeemer of mankind has offered to the world the only plan that will fully develop us and make us really happy here and hereafter, I feel it not only a duty but also a blessed privilege to disseminate this truth."

Find a place in your life for the Savior.  Follow His example.  Drop your nets and follow Him.

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